Shadows within Darkness: 2nd instalment
by BMIK
Summary: More Middle-Ages, tragedy, smut, blood, death, dirt, vampire-cliché... And this one even has an evil antagonist! VincentxYazoo COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Hello to the second installment of 'Shadows within Darkness'. I´m having the flu right now so my brain´s mush, but I hope you like it anyway (I wrote this before I got ill anyway... but it might suffice as an apology for the lack of introduction or lengthy comment or whatever.)**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters. But I do own the vampire-clichés I invented (and if vampy´s can sparkle and get away with it I can make up my own implausible rules...)

**Warnings:** No sparkly vampires, sorry.

**Summary:** In the first installment, Vincent hunted down Yazoo, thinking he was a criminal who could not be redeemed. Apparently he could, so Vincent set him free and erased his memories. Yazoo´s reunion with his brothers was shortlived, though, because stuff happened and Vincent had to take him in again, telling Yazoo that his brothers were dead. After some moping and being difficult Yazoo slowly warms up to Vincent´s human maid Aeris and later he also gets friendly with Vincent. More super interesting stuff happens to the point where Vincent and Yazoo have hot, steaming, page filling sex. Eventually Yazoo accidently finds out that Vincent is a vampire and is like -_- But he accepts it and they life happily for a while, till the point where Cloud Strife pops up, eager to marry Aeris. Yazoo doesn´t agree, despite Aeris being in love with Cloud etc. pp. In the end Vincent has enough of it, since Yazoo starts prusuing the idea of Vincent making him a vampire as well. So he tries to marry Yazoo off to Tifa and arranges the marriage with Aeris and Cloud, believing that it is the best for all of them. Yazoo doesn´t think so though, and believes that since his Master has no further use of him he should end his life. That in turn leaves Vincent with the only choice of either letting him die or making him a vampire, and he does choose the latter option. Yazoo then - mad for blood- accidently kills Aeris, but refuses to acknowledge that it was his fault. And that´s where we are now...

Bah, just go read it if you haven´t already :D

**Thanks to jsakurachan1 for the awesome betaing!**

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1

They made their way through the night, following the glowing silver path of the crescent moon coming through the forest canopy, leaving the town behind quickly. Under normal circumstances Yazoo would have staggered and stumbled over the uneven ground, branches and stones laying hidden in the shadows of the long grass. But with his new, amazing senses it wasn´t difficult to avoid them, and even the poor light that would normally have made him getting lost in the wood within minutes was no problem at all. A strangely violet vision was overlacing with his normal view, making things visible even through solid textures. Every now and then a night creature was passing by, and the young vampire noticed with interest the fine network of red lines where their pulsing arteries and veins provided their host with blood that ran through their frail, warm bodies.

He had to hurry to not loose the completely black figure of his master though -as the blood he´d stolen from his victim had run cold already- and Vincent didn´t leave him time to admire the new sensations that the change brought.

Swiftly leading from ahead the older vampire didn´t look either left nor right, just holding his gaze stiffly straight ahead, finding his way with routinized accuracy.

Eventually, after an hour of walking, a little opening replaced the old trees and high bushes. A small, almost overgrown path was leading to a crumbled stone ruin, that seemed to have been a church or a convent before it had fallen apart. To search for a roof was futile; all that was left were some remains of formerly strong, thick walls, now overgrown by ivy and weed. The front was fairly intact, a high, glassless window had crumbled halfway, and the heavy wooden doors were rotting away in their angles, leaving the ground with splinters. This particular building was where Vincent was heading for..

Sliping into the dark hall, where some lonely pillars held themself up against natures claim, they made their way through the aisle until they came to the destroyed remains of an altar. A hidden side door, that was totally overgrown by ivy, was opened by dextrous hands, and after a short backglance to brief himself that Yazoo was still following him, Vincent led the young man down the pitchblack, broken winding stairs. There was neither air nor light down here, but Yazoo´s vision had changed to full ultra violet mode now and he followed his master down on steady feet. Inwardly he found it amusing that Vincent, who so loathed and feared the church was sleeping in a former one.

Eventually they made it into a high, albeit small, candle lit room. Besides the rusty candle bearers and the huge mountains of waxdrops under them, there was a small, old desk, stuffed with books that looked so old and precious Yazoo was sure he had never seen anything comensurable in Vincent´s official library. Naturally his interest was sparked, but before he could walk over and have a look Vincent motioned him with a stiff gesture towards a coffin, that was standing against the wall in the back. There was another one, more towards the exit, making Yazoo incline his head in wonder. There wasn´t another one of them here, was there?

Or maybe Vincent had taken precautions for his arrival, inwardly considering the possibility even though he had denied it. But the oaken, velvet laced burial cases looked ancient, and Yazoo just couldn´t imagine Vincent obtaining him an already used coffin… That would just be gross.

The other vampire threw him an impatient look, and mentally shrugging, the silver haired man crawled into the shadowed box. It was a little too small, his feet and head bumbing against the dark wood, but he was too tired to care, because as soon as he had come to a lying position, his limbs became heavy and numb, his eyes closing automatically. The last thing he saw was the face of Vincent hovering over him and silently closing the weighty lid.

*

It was dark.

That was he first thing he realised upon coming back to his senses. It was just utterly and thoroughly pitch black around him. No light source was to be found, no matter where he looked. Surprisingly, though, he could see himself. Holding a white hand before his eyes Yazoo made sure that he was still there and then his eyes shifted back into he darkness.

Where was he?! And why was no one else there? Where was his master, and Aeris…?

Eyes going wide, the sudden memory of the maid lying at his feet, cold and dead, invaded his thoughts. And with it the overwhelming knowledge that she wouldn´t ever smile at him again, never make him cookies, listen to the stories he would read to her, pressed down on his slim shoulders.

She was gone and he was utterly alone. Again.

Suddenly the darkness seemed to tighten around him, coming nearer and threatening to swallow him, but he couldn´t do anything but stare into the blackness that was all around him, leaving no route to escape the inevitable.

He was waiting though, patiently waiting for the cold to come and save him, make things better, freeze everything, built a wall between him and the fact that Aeris was gone, that he had killed her…

But nothing happened. The darkness only seemed to thicken and slowly something akin to panic was rising in his guts.

Was this punishment for what he´d done? But he hadn´t actually done anything, had he? It wasn´t his fault, he didn´t have control about himself at that time and he certainly hadn´t wished for what had happened! It had been an accident, the ice said so, and…!

And it didn´t change the facts that Aeris was dead and that he had taken her life one bit.

Averting his eyes from the somehow shifting mass around him he looked to… where the ground would have been if there had been a concept of direction here at all.

Just when he was certain that he would be swallowed a light laughter from somewhere penetrated the darkness and made him look up again.

Eyes searching, he tried to locate the source of the chuckling, desperate for company or someone who could bring sense to his confusion.

"My poor, dear little boy," the voice said benignly.

Yazoo looked up, blinking. "Aeris?"

"Yes my dear," Aeris, or rather her voice, answered. By now he still hadn´t been able to spot her, but somehow the darkness had stopped moving towards him and was just lazily swirling around.

Yazoo shifted, disbelieve and scepticism evident on his face.

"Ah, don´t look like this," the maid chuckled, and the silver haired young man was almost certain that he felt something light stroking over his cheek.

"How… can this be?" he asked with narrowed eyes, even more confused. "I killed you."

"Yes, that you did," was the answer, but it did held no resentments.

"But then…"

"I told you, didn´t I?" the maid interrupted softly "I will never leave you alone…"

Looking down at the hands folded in his lab, Yazoo shook his head slightly, trying to comprehend what was going on. Why was she not mad?

"It wasn´t your fault, Yazoo." Aeris sighed. "I know that you would never want to hurt me. It was an unfortunate accident, and I was partially at fault, too. I caused you so much grief…"

The feeling on his cheek was there again, this time lasting longer. The youth closed his eyes, enjoying her familiar presence and desperately trying to savour it.

The darkness seemed to shift again suddenly, though, almost giving off a nervous, restless feeling.

The voice sighed, and the touch was interrupted.

"I am afraid I have to leave now," Aeris sighed again, sounding somewhat apologetic.

"But-" Panic seemed to overtake Yazoo upon the prospect of being left alone in this madness again. He felt that he was somewhat pulled away, everything becoming blurry and distant.

"Don´t worry my dear, it´s alright," the voice assured, and he could almost see her warmly smiling at him. "You might not remember when you wake up, but never forget: whatever happens, my blood is part of you now, as am I. And I will never leave you, no matter what."

It was funny. Although he had no way to know that she was speaking the truth, or that this just wasn´t a perversion his broken mind was playing on him, he knew deep inside that she was right and it put something inside him to rest.

And with that last thought Yazoo lost conciousness again.

*

Vincent sat on a rock, ignoring the still form beside him. The dull candle light flickered through their dusty sleeping room, casting strange shadows on the rough walls and the stoned curved ceiling.

Naturally, as he had grown stronger by the time and had more power, he also had awakened a lot earlier than his pupil. Vincent expected the boy -for in his view Yazoo was still ridicoulus young compared to himself- to not wake before midnight. That had provided him with some time to take care of certain matters, such as returning to the mansion. Hidden in the shadows, he had to find out however, that it wouldn´t turn out to be wise going near there for quite a while. His house had been in an uproar, people going in an out. Apparently Aeris´ death had been found out sooner than he could have wished for. It had been foolish to just leave her the previous night, but the vampire hadn´t had the nerve to bother with her lifeless form _and_ Yazoo, so he guessed it couldn´t be helped.

His power over lower beasts had come in handy, as he had ordered the generic housemice to obey his will and mentally occupied their bodies. Through their eyes and ears he had followed the peoples conversations about murder and the suspicious wounds on her neck. The pervert priest had been summoned to exorcise her and give her the last rites, but the man only spitted with rage that certainly it had been the demonic master of this household who had sucked her blood and kidnapped or even killed (by judging from the blood) his student.

The two healers from the night before were also there, nervously fidgeting under the inquiries of the mayor, who had come here himself after he had heard that his soon to be son-in-law was nowhere to be found. Aeris dead body lay on the ground still, only covered by a blood stained blanket which suggested, that she hand´t been found for very long. As he made the mouse leave the room and ransacking the other rooms, he found the one or other plunderer enriching themselves with his belongings. Vincent made a mental note of their faces, and hurried through the house, eventually coming to the backyard. The brown mouse slipped through the leaned on kitchen door, her black button eyes scanning the dark court.

It was totally empty, save for one hunched figure kneeling on the floor. From the blond shock of hair, the vampire instantly knew who he was facing, but Cloud was to absorbed in his grief, rocking back and forth manically, a hand pressed to his mouth, to notice the mouse´s presence. Vincent knew very well about his desperation to loose the only woman he had every truly loved and devoted his very existence to.

Even more so as he had experinced a rather bizare encounter with the young man. Initially he hadn´t planned on meeting him at all, but after the marriage discussion he´d had with his strict father the boy had suddenly appeared before him as he was just about to leave the estate, obviously having eavesdropped on their conversation. He had fallen to his knees, attempting to kiss the vampire´s feet and assuring him of his eternal gratitude, swearing to his life that he would do everything within his power and even beyond to make Aeris happy.

As it turned out now, Vincent had utterly betrayed his trust into him, and the vampire averted his eyes. What happened couldn´t be made undone and he doubted that Cloud would understand his reasoning even if he had tried to explain it to him. It was quaint though, that the only person Vincent had thought to be safe while being with him, still had fallen victim to their abnormal thirst in the end.

Sighing he left the mice´s small minds. He was finished here, for once and for all.

Atrabilious, he went after one of the robbers, a merchant that had gotten to wealth by shady business and the one or other murder. The vampire didn´t bother to take him anywhere this time, just assaulting him in a dark side alley before the man even knew what was happening and discarding of his corpse on the usual place. Then he had searched for a convenient victim for his pupil, made it faint and, throwing it over his shoulder, had left the town again.

By no chance would he allow Yazoo to go hunting by himself, he´d seen the uncontrolable youth bring ruin upon them one time too often already. He´d have to teach him the basics and rules first before there was any thinking about going out together. Besides, the townspeople were still searching for Yazoo and being sighted in the city´s streets certainly wasn´t something Vincent needed to have.

He was thrown out of his revery when the coffin lid suddenly hit the ceiling, clattering to the ground and coming to lay beside the burial case in an awkward angle. Soon after, Yazoo´s upper body emerged from the box, hands clinging to the rim as he tried to comprehend why he´d woken in such a cramped, smothery place.

Vincent wasn´t surprised, though. It had taken him ages to get over the horror that was thinking that he´d been burried alive.

Dizzy, Yazoo shook his head a little to clear it, brows furrowed. Something else took his attention soon enough, as his narrowed eyes searched the room and came to rest on the unconcious figure resting beside Vincent´s feet.

Absent-mindedly he licked his lips, gaze becoming avid, and slowly he crept out of the coffin.

While his eyes were still glued on the still form as if nothing else in the world was existent, he gracefully crawled over the old stone ground on all fours. Slowly razor sharp, perly teeth slid over his moist lips, his feral eyes boring into the victim from behind long tresses that hung into his face.

When Yazoo was just about to reach out for the woman Vincents booted foot made contact with his forehead, holding the boy in place.

Growling, two furious slitted eyes shot up at the unimpressed vampire, who had crossed his arms over his chest and calmly looked back at the kneeling young man.

After a moment the boy stilled, face relaxing in resignation, but not without occasional hungry glances thrown into the victims direction.

Satisfied, Vincent withdrew his foot, allowing him to drink. It was absolutely essential that Yazoo knew who his master was; he´d rather not think about what disaster would occur if the boy ran rampant.

Quietly, he watched the young vampire regale himself with the womans blood, the old hag only sighing as she went to the other side, her fitlhy white hair spilling on the floor, and her wrinkled face becoming slack again. At least she didn´t have to suffer any pain now anymore.

With a strangely excited feeling rising in his stomach he observed Yazoo licking his bloody lips with half-lidded eyes, head thrown back as he was still experiencing the bliss that came with the aftermath of drinking.

Indignantly he ignored it. Now surely wasn´t the time for such things.

They had to set some things straight first, and as soon as Yazoo was back down to earth, he ordered him to take a seat on the chair in front of the desk.

"Very well. Do you, by any chance, remember anything of the previous night´s events?" the vampire asked as he had the full attention of his student, who expectantly watched him sitting on his rock with one leg bent.

The young vampire nodded after a thoughtful look, his demeanor not leaking anything about what he might have _thought_ about it.

"I see."Vincent leaned forward a little, his left elbow resting on his bent leg, as he gave his protégé a scrutinizing gander with narrowed eyes.

Yazoo just returned his look calmly, arms lying casually on the vermiculated armrest.

"Well then, I am certain that you already noticed that your current condition differs remarkably from your living form."

It was a rhetorical question, if a question at all, and Yazoo did not feel the need to answer it, nor did the other vampire expect him too, because he just continued.

"I will teach you the essential differences now, so listen well, I will not repeat myself."

This time, the ghost of a smirk graced Yazoo´s luscious lips, accompanied by an excited sparkling in his big, gorgeous eyes.

It pained the other vampire that Yazoo was unable to see the serious formidableness of his condition and instead seemed to be amazed and eager even.. The confrontation with reality would deflate him soon enough, but Vincent wished he could spare him from this…

"First: We subsist from blood, and blood alone. Human blood is the most suitable for us, and one body provides us with enough energy for one night. Should it be necessary, however, you can get by with the blood of lower beasts for a certain, restricted amount of time."

As fast as lightening Vincent caught a mouse that scurried beside his rock, and carefully held it in his palm for demonstration purposes.

Yazoo wrinkled his nose a little, looking not very enthusiastic as he watched the mouse sniffle at his masters finger and climbing his arm to sit on his shoulder.

He seriously doubted that there was ever a situation that would made him desperate enough to suck _mouse blood_!

"The mechanisms should already be known by you. It mostly is a process that will happen automatically. However, there are restrictions concerning the selection and handling of your victims."

The older vampire´s gaze became sharp, as he sat the mouse back on the floor and made sure that the other was following, which was rather unnecessary, because the boy hung on his every word.

"Although I said earlier that every human´s blood potentially will suffice, you will never ever break that one rule again I am going to tell you now: You will under no circumstances feast from the innocent and pure."

Yazoo tilted his head, the unspoken question of how the other expected him to know who was innocent and who was not lingering in the air.

'You will know just the same way I know what you are thinking at this very moment.'

Yazoo backed away in surprise, looking displeased to hear his master invading his thoughts.

"Do not worry, I am not interested in your cogitations. You will learn to read humans minds soon, and distinguish the important ones from the trivials, as well as shutting your own." The vampire assured.

"Suitable victims will be those who killed, benefitted purposely from the misfortune of others, or do not appreciate their fellow human´s lifes value. Therefore, men that killed out of necessity, be it in self-defience or by accident, will not be pursued. Ill intention is the criterion here."

Yazoo looked rather sceptical, but did not protest, so Vincent continued with his lecture.

"After you choose a victim you will not simply feast on it, but show yourself before it and coax it to follow you to the place I will show you when the time comes. Normally this will be not an issue, the premise of easily taking advantage of you will be enough to make them more than willing to follow you. After you have them savely in our estate, without anyone noticing your party, you will offer your guest a bath and a rich meal. Even though they are wretched human beings, their last hours alive shall be as pleasant as possible."

The vampire pressed his lips together briefly, then his sonourous, deep voice filled the small cellar again.

"If they refuse to, you will threaten them with canceling the meeting at once. If they still refuse, it can not be helped and you will take them without the aforementioned procedure. Should they follow your orders however, you will take them as soon as they show any signs of wanting to harm you. If you believe that there is still some possibility for redemption, you will point their misbehavior out to them and judge if their change of mind is trustworthy or just an unfounded promise to escape death. In case the former event occurs, you will let them go and erase their memories of yourself, but not of the promise they made and the fear they felt. Should the latter happen, you will just proceed as planned and feast on them.

"There is one more thing, however. While you drink from them, you will observe their last thoughts. Should anything indicate that they are still somewhat human inside, you will let them live and proceed the exact same way, like I told you in case of remediable victims.

Did you understand everything what I said?"

The other vampire nodded, albeit not looking too enthusiastical.

"Do not even think of arguing or questioning my decision," Vincent added, just in case, but Yazoo remained silent anyway, though looking resigned.

"Very well then. Let us continue with the second point: your body."

Yazoo shifted in his seat, giving the impression of absolute interest.

Sighing the red cloaked man continued.

"You should have noticed by now that your eyesight and your hearing abilities have far exceeded those of human beings. They will allow you to live through the night unharmed and provide you with the necessary informations. Your movements are faster now, and your reaction time is remarkably shorter. Your new physical strength far outreaches your former. I already mentioned that you will be able to read humans minds too. As time goes by, you will become stronger and your abilities will become more powerful, eventually enabling you to… transform."

Yazoo didn´t fail to notice the short pause, and curiously awaited an explanation, as to what it was with this transformation, but Vincent didn´t elaborate the matter any further.

"To a certain extend you can make lower creatures obey your will. These include mice, rats, snakes, bats and wolves even."

The other found that this all sounded far too good to be true and suspected that there had to be a snag to it, and surely Vincent pointed it out to him soon enough.

"You are not as immortal and invincible as it may seem, however. There are dangers and risks that you must be aware of at all times.

"The first and most crucial one is sunlight. What is a vital necessity to mankind is our greatest foe.. You will notice the arrival of dawn automatically and you should return to your coffin instantly then. If not, it might happen that your body will just slip into dormancy, leaving you unprotected outside." He inwardly whinced at the memory of his failure to follow this particular rule not so very long ago.

"Your coffin is another necessity, you cannot go without it."

"Permit me to remark that you were very well without your coffin that day…" Yazoo spoke up, head tilted.

"Did that seem to be the case?" Vincent answered coldly, not pleased with the interruption at all. "I will inform you that I was not and had to suffer the consequences for a few nights after. The only reason I withstood that day was due to my superiour power and my age. Do not be mistaken child, you would not survive the day outside your coffin for an hour."

Impressed, the young vampire shut his mouth and politely listened to the rest of Vincents explanation.

The vampires mouth felt already dry by now, he wasn´t used to that much talking, and there was so much he had to consider and remember…

Licking his lips behind his collar, he continued in a morose manner.

"Besides the daylight holy ground and sacred items are poison to us as well. We cannot touch the cross, or holy water, or go into christian buildings that still serve the purpose of worshipping god. Furthermore we are not able to stand pure silver. Its effect will become less severe when assorted with other metals. As far as I know, it cannot kill us though.. Nothing can, aside from the sunlight."

Yazoo looked positively delighted, much to Vincents dismay.

"Now, are there any questions?"

He groaned as the young vampire declared that, yes, he had indeed some questions.

"Very well then. But just to your information: I will not answer any questions concerning myself."

The silver haired teens corners of his mouth twiched a little in disappointment, as 90% of his questions evaporated into thin air.

"What about stakes through the heart?"

"Nonsense. It might be painful, but it cannot kill us for our hearts are already dead. Decapitation might be another subject, but I am not eager to find out about its validity."

"Hn. Garlic?"

Vincent stared at him blankly for a moment. "…Where did you get _that_ idea from? How can a mere onion harm us?"

Yazoo stuck his bottom lip out, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, it said so in the tales. And apparently you forbid Aeris to cook with garlic or eat it, so to suggest the assumption that you had ulterior motives is not that off." He lifted one single eyebrow to underline his point.

"I did so because I simply do not appreciate the smell of it," the vampire informed him, shaking his head, adding tiredly, "Is there something else you need to ask or can we call it a day now?"

His implemented half-order went ignored when Yazoo tilted his head thoughtfully, looking through the room and eyes coming to a halt on the wall next to him.

"Yes, there is still a question that remains unanswered."

Impatiantly waving his hand to gesture the boy to speak, Vincent gave his permission, although reluctantly.

"Whose coffin is that? "

The other vampire´s face paled quite remarkably, startling Yazoo, for he hadn´t intended his innocent question to make his master look so sick and pained. The cloaked man regained his composure quickly however, saying curtly, and not very convincing "No ones."

Frowning, Yazoo just took it, not wanting to upset Vincent any further then he already was.

"Now go back into your coffin, dawn is not far." He gracefully rose from his stone, turning his back towards his pupil.

Yazoo just did as he was told, slipping into 'his' coffin and instantly falling into rigidity, arms crossing over his chest by themselves.

Vincent went over to get the heavy lid and effortlessly lifted it from the ground to place it on the coffin. Before he closed it, however, he took a tormented look inside, and shook his head.

TBC

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**Please accept my apologies for not commenting on the last reviews to SwD, I need an aspirin and some sleep now.**

**Review please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there again! 2nd chapter, thanks to jsakurachan1 for the wonderful betaing again!**

**Enjoy please!**

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2

"Hn."

Yazoo sat on the floor at the foot of the bed with his head propped against his palm with his arm on the mattress. He looked across at the corpse of his first, self-hunted victim with disinterest.

After two weeks of training his telepathy, and seemingly endless recitation of the rules Vincent had taught him, the older vampire had finally deemed him worthy to take the crucial test.

He´d been quite delighted to finally get out of the dusty cellar of the ruins of an old church they had taken residence in and follow Vincent to a town on the other side of the hill. His master had decided that hunting in their former home would be too dangerous and together they had travelled the distance in a fraction of the time using their quick feet. Vincent had yet to teach Yazoo how to travel by any other means.

As the moon reached its zenith in the night sky the two vampires passed the city walls and began their hunt. Before the city's clock tower could mark the passing of the hour, Yazoo had found his target, a rapist, and had lured him to a residence that Vincent had prepared a few nights earlier..

As the vampire was watching over him from the roof tops Yazoo pretended to not notice the feral looks the human was directing at him. He wasn´t that ugly himself and seemed to be decently well off, as his relatively heavy perfume and expensive cloths indicated. But Yazoo had no interest in the man´s circumstances whatsoever and just continued to chatter about unimportant things, making conversation.

Impatiently he had waited for the man to finish his bath (fending off the rapist's attempts to take Yazoo with him in the tub), and watched him wolf down the prepared food. In contrast to Vincent, he wasn´t very good at keeping his thirst in check, and frankly, he didn´t even want to. All he desired was to thrust his canines in a warm throat as soon and as often as possible. Vincent´s restriction to one victim per night was completely beyond his comprehension, but he obeyed it nonetheless. The other vampire hadn´t been in a particularly good mood ever since his transformation, which was why Yazoo wasn´t completely happy with his succeeding the test.

The victim had been wretched through and through, so there was, fortunately, no redemption for him at all and Yazoo had sucked his blood. After he was finished, he´d thought that Vincent´s concerns for him would at least be partially put to rest. Maybe the vampire would even have had a word of approval for him, like he always had when Yazoo had completed a task to his satisfaction before, but this time his mentor had only given the corpse a quick glance and had left the room, ordering the boy to wait there until he was back.

Now he was sitting here in a melancholy mood, not knowing what he had done wrong and waiting for his master´s return. Somehow he had imagined the afterlife with Vincent to be completely different. The raven haired man was barely talking to or looking at him, let alone touching him. It was as if he was disgusted by Yazoo´s transformed body or something…

Frustrated, the young vampire prodded the boring corpse in the back with one finger and indifferently watched it roll from the bed and hit the floor with a thud. "I am glad to see that you find amusement in dead people´s bodies," the tightly spoken comment made Yazoo lift an eyebrow in irritation. Slowly but surely Vincent´s lousy mood was rubbing off on him. "Get the body and follow me," the cloaked vampire instructed, already turning on his heels and striding out of the dimly lit bedroom before Yazoo had even the chance to say something.

Clenching his jaw, the silver haired young man rose from his sitting position, walking around the bed in nonchalantly and threw the dead former-rapist over his slim shoulder without so much as breaking a sweat. Then he joined his master on the dark street and quickly they ducked through the alleys until they reached an old, abandoned graveyard just outside the town. Vincent opened the rusty iron gate and led the boy and his burden inside.

They made their way through the rows of crumbled, vine covered gravestones and broken crosses that were cast in the silver light of the half moon until they reached a section dominated by run down crypts. Before one of them Vincent finally stopped and pushed aside the heavy stone that sealed the entrance. He then lifted the corpse from Yazoo´s shoulder and wordlessly threw it into the darkness. After he had sealed the entrance again, he informed the other imperiously, "From now on you will bring the dead bodies here."

Yazoo just looked at his mentor blankly, and after Vincent snapped at him if he had understood him, he acknowledged his master in a monotonous voice and followed the vampire back to the entrance of the cemetery. When they had reached the gates again Vincent instructed the other coldly to go back to their residence and do whatever he wished, which was mainly restricted to reading, sleeping or staring at the plain wall in boredom.

*

"What´s wrong?"

Yazoo was loitering on the half closed lid of his coffin and watching his mentor sitting at his desk, his interest fully consumed by an old book and ignoring his student for hours. The younger vampire assumed that if it hadn´t poured down like all gates of heaven had opened at once and covered the pitch black sky with garish lightening and rolling thunder that shook even their underground home Vincent wouldn´t have graced him with his presence at all. But Yazoo had been pushed to the limits of his quite remarkable patience and wasn´t about to take the other´s aloof and rather rude behavior - that he saw absolutely no justification for - any longer.

"I do not know what you mean. And I would appreciate it if you could find another occupation that does not include pestering me with ludicrous questions," came the response from the vampire who didn´t even deign to look up from the pages.

Lifting an eyebrow, an exasperated expression briefly flickered over the silver haired teen's fair features as he coldly retorted, "Well, then let me enlighten you _master_, because _that_ is exactly what I am talking about. Ever since you made me into this thing you have been behaving like a sulking little child and I have no idea as to why."

At least that made Vincent look up from his damn book, though it was a rather annoyed and indignant glare that was thrown at him.

"I think you should choose your words and consider your tone a little more carefully. I am by no means 'sulking' and even if your accusations were justified, I have no obligation to explain my actions to you," he finally replied caustically.

The atmosphere was so tense it seemed as if it could snap at any moment, and had Yazoo been a lesser composed and collected young man, he would have retorted something rather nasty. Instead he just gave up in resignation, swinging his feet over the coffin´s rim in a swift, graceful movement and closed the lid over him, as he decided for a rather early night´s rest.

Consequently he failed to see the other vampire´s doleful expression as he flicked the book shut he hadn´t even been reading.

*

Their ambiguous relationship continued like this for two further weeks with the two trying to avoid each other as often as possible. Yazoo did so because he was frustrated by the other's behaviour and Vincent because, well, who knew what was going on in that gorgeous, mysterious head of his. The cloaked man would only accompany his pupil during hunt, staying in the shadows and wordlessly leaving as soon as he had made sure that Yazoo had discarded of the corpse properly. Then Yazoo would have to go back to their cellar and wait for the dawn by himself, re-reading some texts absentmindedly Vincent had instructed him to inspect in a rare moment of showing that he still, somehow cared.

Tonight, however, Yazoo had other plans. Though he had no intentions on defying Vincent´s orders to head back to their home, the older man had not said that he had to go _straight _back without taking a little detour.

And it just so happened that the young vampire had seen something on the hunt tonight that had seemed quite interesting.

Stealthily he sneaked through the cramped, dark alleys. The lights had been put out already in that particular district and the only occasional sounds of guffaw and heated discussions came from a tavern down the street.

Before a neat little house that was crammed between two similar ones and whose low roof hung askew over the street, he stopped, studying the sign that informed the client of the nature of the shop. After Yazoo had ascertained that he was at the right place he rapped at the door. Another thing that Vincent had told him was the annoying fact that they had to be asked to come in before they could enter a person´s house, because otherwise he would have just appeared beside the shop owner's bed and made his order.

He rapped again, his inhuman ears listening into the house where, after a third knock, a drowsy curse was heard and the owner of the shop grumpily got up. A few minutes later the door was roughly pulled open and an angry, groggy face appeared in the light of a lamp the man was holding as he stood in the small corridor in his nightgown and a bed cap dangling from his dishevelled head.

"What the hell?" He grunted, thrusting the lamp into the unwelcome visitor´s face and attempting to give him a piece of his tired, pissed mind, but the man closed his mouth immediately upon seeing the well dressed young aristocrat before him.

Nervously he hurried to lower his head and mumbling a rushed apology, "I am very sorry for my rude comment young master, I didn´t expect someone like you to visit my humble store at such a late hour…"

Yazoo lazily waved away the suddenly-very-subordinate man´s words, answering instead, "May I come in now? I´d rather discuss our business inside than on the street."

"Of course! Come in please," the store owner licked his lips nervously and shuffled to the side with his head still held low.

Yazoo walked across the dark floor, waited for the man to lock the door behind him, and then followed him into his shop.

After he had set down the lantern and lit another one to give his customer a better look at his merchandise he doffed his cap, kneading it in his sweaty hands and standing beside the counter, waiting for Yazoo to choose whatever he desired.

The vampire observed his pitiful figure from out of the corner of his eye, taking a special interest in the pulsing blood vessels that provided the thumping organ in his left chest with sweet smelling liquid…

Now wasn´t the time for such things, the vampire reminded himself, focusing his attention back to the items on display and trying to ignore the man´s intense scent of blood and fear that was always so intoxicating…

After he had given the items a scrutinizing look he pointed to several objects and the man hurried to get them.

Rubbing his hands after he had handed Yazoo a small leather bag he awaited his payment. Yazoo handed him the golden clasp that held his long hair together. Aghast the shop owner stared at the expensive item in the other's white hand, "Tha- that´s by far too much young sir! I can´t accep-"

"Just take it," the vampire said, his hair falling over his shoulders, and adding after a moment with a meaningful look, "It should be suffice to make you forget our nightly encounter, hm?" He still hadn´t mastered the task of erasing people´s memories, but there were still other ways to make them shut up, fortunately. Frantically nodding, the man greedily took the offered payment, letting it vanish in his sleeve and escorted his guest to the door with words of gratitude and flattering.

As soon as the door closed behind him a smirk graced the vampire´s features and with the precious leather bag clutched to his side he made his way back to the old ruin.

TBC

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**All is not happy sunshine with the vampy boys... ^^**

**Now, finally to the reviews from the last times I missed:**

**Valitiel:** Haha, I don´t know why Aeris always gets killed. I just didn´t have any use for her anymore, and she added to the drama ;) Yazoo does seem traumatized but he might get over it eventually. Vincent indeed isn´t very helpful, he´s in sulky mode -_- Thanks for commenting and being such a faithful reviewer, I am happy you enjoyed it so far!

**Kirara:** I feel sorry for Cloud as well, he was just about to finally get happy with Aeris. I can´t spoil what Cloud or Yazoo are up to just now, but we certainly haven´t seen the last of Cloud :) Thank you for reviewing, I am glad you found it interesting.

**YazooValentine:** Oh no, hun, I wouldn´t have let it ended there XD I just thought it was a good part to finish the first instalment... :) Sorry for the trouble, I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

**JiLLiBeanZ:** A new reader! Welcome *waves* Oh, it´s almost gone now, but my head felt like it was twice the size it normally is :D I am happy you liked the first part of the story, I hope the second won´t disappoint! Thank you for the feedback!

**Review please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the one week pause, I got sick and wanted to update within the week, but then my sinusitis just came back -_- Anyway, extra long chapter today. Before we start I´d like to put up a request by my lovely beta jsakurachan1 who is working on a paper about yaoi:**

*

Hello fans,

My name here is jsakurachan1 and I have a favor to ask of all you. I am writing a research paper on the effects yaoi has on its readers and writers, and I was wondering if any of you would be interested in answering some questions. If you choose to participate, you will have to send the answers to j. along with your name/pseudonym. Also, tell me if you want that name used in the paper or if you would prefer your answers to be anonymous. Thank you all for your time, and thanks BMIK for helping me out here!

the questions are:

1) Why do your read yaoi? Is there a psychological draw, or is it for the smut? Do you read for the romance?

2) Do you notice any change in your own behavior and/or opinions on socially relevant issues?

3) How have your views on the original media changed after you have read the yaoi?

so these questions are pretty broad as the paper is in its early stages, so feel free to add any more information that you think would be helpful!

*

**You can pm her or answer the questions in a review here, whatever you feel more comfortable. I highly recommend that you partake in this survey, I know from my own experience how little there is written in science about this topic, so it would be awesome if you could help her out! Thank you!**

**Now, enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

3

Vincent swept through the nightly forest, deep in thought and paying little attention to his surroundings.

He had finally made up his mind.

It was time to get over his brooding and start moving on.

There was no use in avoiding Yazoo and the feeling of guilt and despair the boy invoked in him any longer. The last weeks had been plainly agonizing and he knew that it couldn´t continue like this. They were now meant to spent eternity together and they wouldn´t experience a pleasant time if he didn´t stop acting like a 'sulking little child', as Yazoo had put it so blatantly. Sooner or later he had to face the situation, and giving the other vampire the cold shoulder hadn´t done anything to lighten the emotional burden he felt, so it was time to change tactics before he pushed the boy away from him to a point where their relationship was beyond recovery. That he wanted to avoid at any possibility for he needed Yazoo desperately. The boy had shown him a way out of his never-ending darkness and he certainly couldn´t bear it to be left again.

Silently, the vampire slipped over the long weeds that were starting to die again as the winter was near, and strode past the clearing towards the ruin. His fine ears peeked up though, as he came closer and noticed a strange sound.

Yazoo…

Hurrying into the old ruin, Vincent frantically searched for the strangled noises´ source, and finally he found his fellow vampire kneeling next to the altar, holding his stomach as he shivered from nausea and retched again. Crouching down besides him with a worried expression the elder placed a gloved hand over the boy´s back to steady him and carefully lifted his face with a hand beneath his chin. Fine red droplets of blood were running down his temples, surrogating for sweat, and alarmingly hazy eyes that shone an even brighter shade of green than usual looked up at him, trying to focus.

"Yazoo! What happened?"

Despite the pain he obviously was in, the boy still had the nerve to spit a cynical, "What do you care?" into his face before another icy punch inside his stomach made him double over again. Briefly closing his eyes to regain his composure -Vincent thought that now certainly wasn´t the time to pick a fight- he searched the ground for something that would give an explanation as to why his pupil was suffering.

Yazoo's stomach was forcing vomited blood to spill over the dusty ground with small lumps in it, alarming the cloaked man even more. "Yazoo, I am sorry for my behaviour, now please tell me what yo-"

His searching eyes came to rest on a bag, lying innocently beside a blood splattered rock. With narrowed eyes the vampire grabbed for it, his stroking movements on the dead youth´s back coming to a halt. "What is this…" He sniffed at the contents and held it away, disgusted.

"Sweets," Yazoo informed him from below, puking another lump of blood. "Though I´m very inclined to not call them this particular name ever again."

"You…ate that?" Vincent asked, blinking with a blank expression while he held the bag between two pointy fingers as if it was the most disgusting and offensive object he had ever had to face.

"No, actually I shoved it up my ass," Yazoo retorted snappily, holding a hand against his bloody mouth instantly, as another wave of nausea threatened to overtake him.

"You know… I am very inclined to think that it serves you just right," the other vampire said with unnerved disbelief. "I told you, did I not?"

All he got was a tired glare. Casting the bag aside, where it landed in a heap of dried leaves and weeds, Vincent sighed and lifted the boy up, leaning his head against his shoulder as they sat together against the altar.

Yazoo gagged a few more times, twice having to lean over as his system rid itself of the indigestible candy, until the sickness finally faded away.

Vincent stroked the bloody hair out of the teens exhausted face, asking sympathetically, "Do you feel better now?"

"Hn," the boy groaned, looking to the side. The older vampire just continued to slowly stroke over Yazoo´s head, until the latter asked, suspiciously and a bit confused, "You´re not angry?"

There was a pause, until Vincent finally replied, red eyes scanning over the ruins without looking at anything particular, "Well, I certainly would be, if I would not feel like an utter hypocrite then." He felt the boy tilt his head in question and explained quietly, "In fact, my warning was not without personal experience."

"What did you eat?" Yazoo queried with an arched brow, looking up at his mentor's calm face.

"I tried to partake in a glass of wine. It did not go well, as you certainly can imagine." He winced at the memory, sympathizing with his lover´s pain and pulling him even a little closer in his embrace. He should have anticipated that he would try it sooner or later.

"Why did you do that?" Yazoo asked, not feeling half as bad as before, now that Vincent was finally returning to his old self.

"Hm, I wonder. Probably it was a test to see if blood was really the only source of nourishment for me. But to a certain extent, I believe it was also the desire to taste it again and recall the feeling of it. It was not only the past nourishment, but a feeling, a habit, an atmosphere that I missed and sought to experience again." He looked down at the boy´s thoughtful face, asking softly after a moment "So, do you feel like telling me why you did it?"

"The same reason, I think. Candy always made me feel better."

Vincent crept deeper into his collar at the unspoken implication that his student had felt unhappy and that it had been because of him.

"I am sorry," he murmured, lifting Yazoo´s chin and placing a chaste kiss on his bloody lips. "I really did behave childish, did I not?"

"Well, I that is one way to put it," the teen smirked nonchalantly, ignoring the low growl and leaning back against Vincent´s shoulder, letting his head get the well deserved attention again.

"Does it still hurt?" The quietly spoken question made the silver haired vampire nod his head, two red eyes resting on him.

"Here?"

Yazoo felt the vampire´s hand slip further down his side and a hand rest on his belly. The youth nodded again, since his stomach still felt like a fire was churning away in it.

Fingertips started to softly caress his aching belly, moving the thin fabric of Yazoo´s white shirt and trailing almost idle circles. And truly, the pain seemed to fade, making place for a pleasant warmth that became even more intense when Vincent´s hand moved further and further down…

Closing his eyes, Yazoo sighed almost inaudibly, breath speeding up a little when Vincent´s fingers slowly but decidedly gave attention to his lower belly. The raven haired vampire observed his relaxing student, then lowered his head so that his lips were hovering over his abdomen and finally placed a kiss on it.

"Here?"

"Hn," Yazoo sighed, eyes still closed and head now resting against the altar as Vincent shifted to find a more comfortable position.

Vincent looked up only briefly, then moved a little further down, moving his thumb over white skin where he had cleverly pushed the fabric away.

"And here?"

The boy just nodded, lips slightly parted as soft lips brushed over his sensitive skin, making him feel cold and hot at the same time, while the tingling sensation in his stomach and his loin grew.

"What about-" Vincent moved his head even lower, his fingers carefully pulling the fabric of the vampire´s pants down so that the tip of Yazoo´s erection was exposed to the chilling air, "-here?"

The kiss made the silver haired vampire arch slightly, licking his lips with still closed eyes and saying in a trembling voice, "Yes, especially there."

An amused glimmer briefly flickered in the older vampire´s red eyes, then he concentrated back on giving his lover some relief, murmuring in a sultry, low voice, "I see," and placing another kiss on the hot flesh. With his hands he carefully pulled down more of the pants, freeing Yazoo´s hardened length and trailing along the shaft with the tip of his tongue.

Shuddering breaths were coming from above, encouraging Vincent to move a little quicker and suckling at the boy´s tip.

Yazoo gave a wonderful moan that was long desired music to the vampire´s ears when he took him in his mouth, slowly and dextrously moving his head up and down the shaft.

Stiffening, the young man bucked into the wet heat and the sucking, head thrown back a little and long fingers wandering up to Vincent´s head, his fingers burying into raven hair. He neither pulled nor pushed but moved his finger´s through the other´s hair in time with the older vampire's pace. Panting, Yazoo arched and writhed, breathing heavily while his master pleasured him.

Vincent didn´t expect it to take long, they had been abstinent for too long, and surely with one last bucking and a deeply moaned, "Ah, Vincent…" the student came into his master´s mouth.

He didn´t look like he was in much pain any longer, Vincent decided, and came up to share a lazy, slow kiss with his exhausted, but happy protégé.

While Yazoo was basking in the afterglow of his orgasm, eyes still shut, the raven haired vampire pulled him in an embrace again after he had adjusted the others pants. And so they sat there in pleasant togetherness, the moon creeping over the star dusted, clear sky until dawn was near. Vincent helped the still weak silver haired teen into his coffin, and after a last touch of soft lips and intertwining of wet tongues closed his lid. With a heavy burden lifted from his shoulders Vincent returned to his own burial case.

*

The next night Vincent already awaited the other vampire, lifting the lid (and deterring it from flying through the room as it had the first night Yazoo had woken as a vampire) as soon as he sensed the young vampire awaken. After Yazoo had gone through his usual 'resurrection confusion', Vincent helped him out of his coffin and together they went into town in search for a good drink.

The older let Yazoo have his victim first, but instead of ordering him back to the church, he offered the boy the decision to accompany him on his own hunt if he felt like it. Naturally, Yazoo was more than willing to follow him to the city's red light district where Vincent had chosen to search for a victim this time, in consideration of his lover's feelings even settling for a brutal whoremaster instead of the young lady that would have tried to cut his throat.

Yazoo remained in the shadows during the whole trial, attentively observing every gesture the vampire made and remembering every word he said to coax his victim into coming with him.

The best way to learn something was seeing it be done in practice, and Yazoo was determined to perfect his hunt.

Vincent even had the nerve to include him in the play, an indication that he really was in high spirits.

As they entered the house, he motioned for Yazoo to come out, introducing him to the victim as the subject of interest they had been talking about and asking the man if he thought that there was some future for the teen in the man´s business. The man was more than eager to agree, sizing up the beautiful creature in front of him and congratulating himself in having found two perfect victims for his business. There was nothing to fear from worrying relatives or other people since Vincent had told him in feigned naivety that they were two impoverished aristocrats who had lost everyone to consumption and had come here only recently, needing money desperately.

The rest was a mere routine, of course the man insisted on a 'test' to see if they were fit for the job. After the bath and the graciously offered meal, Vincent led the man into the bedroom, offering his own body first, and telling Yazoo to just wait and watch.

Of course the whoremaster never saw the end of the night as what he thought as prey became hunter and feasted on his blood, generously leaving some for his lover who he knew was never satiated with just one human. While he was caught up in his own bliss, Yazoo hungrily pounced on the gasping man´s throat, sucking out the last remaining droplets.

As soon as he let go of the victim, Vincent drew him in a bloody, heated kiss, feverishly licking away the thin trail of red liquid that was running down his partner's chin. The corpse was carelessly thrown from the bed as limbs intertwined and kisses and touches became more and more passionate. Offending clothes were ripped apart and cast to the floor as in the blood induced heat of the moment neither of them really knew what they were doing, only following their insatiable instincts and experiencing the mind blowing act that was having sex while still being high on blood. There was nothing soft or gentle in their movements, greedy fingers clawed into warm limbs and razor sharp teeth scratched over white skin, drawing blood, that instantly was sucked and licked away, accompanied by harsh moans and encouraging hisses.

Eventually their exhausted bodies collapsed on the bed, shaken and trembling from their intense orgasm, Vincent still buried deep inside his lover, lying heavily on the teen's heavenly body, his face nestled into the curve of Yazoo´s neck, eyes closed and his black hair spilling over their figures. Yazoo was lying underneath him, legs spread on either side of his master, back still arched and head thrown back, as he was still trapped in the aftermath of their love making. Their chests heaved in time together and their sweaty hands were still twisted around each other. Eventually Vincent pulled out, rolling on his back beside the younger one and cradling him in his arms.

"Now that was…" Searching for words, the silver haired man frowned slightly, his brain still on vacation.

"Exceptional," the other helped out, eyes closed.

"Hn," the teen smirked lazily, snuggling deeper into the embrace and feeling comfortably exhausted.

One hand trailed over the older vampire´s hairless chest absent-mindedly, still not fully recognizing that they actually were both naked this time and that the ever present fabric of Vincent´s clothing was gone. It became apparent however, when Yazoo´s sensitive fingers traced over tight knots that shouldn´t have marred the other man´s skin. Furrowing his brows, the young vampire lifted his head a little to take a look at the offending texture and narrowed eyes noticed the heavy, thick scars running over the vampire´s chest, especially gathering on his left side. The fingers wandered over a particular big scar.

"What´s… this?"

Vincent´s eyes snapped open and at once the youth´s hand was pulled away in a painful grip. Staring at the ceiling with an indecipherable look, the vampire looked as if made of stone, making Yazoo incline his head in question.

"How did you get these?"

The matter obviously made the older man uncomfortable, as he shifted under his lover´s scrutinizing gaze. His expression became even harder, and Yazoo expected him to just refuse an answer and tell him to mind his own business it became softer. Vincent closed his eyes for a moment until he finally explained in a quietly, "Do you remember what I told you about stakes to the heart and how they cannot kill us?"

Yazoo nodded, not liking where this was going. "I know that they can not, because I tried it myself in an attempt to take my own… afterlife." Green eyes widened in disbelieve. "I also know from these trials that silver can only do so much as burning my skin, but never kill me. Even if it is merged into a stake and thrust into the heart after a blood abstinence of two months." Horrified, the younger watched the calm man beside him, whose gaze was still focused on the ceiling.

"Why-"

"Please, do not ask why. All I can say is, that it was a hard time and my wish to finally rest in peace was great. I cannot inform you about the circumstances yet, perhaps some day I will be able to and then you shall know. Do not worry, I have no intention on repeating such actions again," Vincent said, eyes rolling towards a sceptical Yazoo, who, after a second, hesitantly laid his head back on the man´s shoulder and continued to stroke over his scarred skin.

After another hour they took a bath together in the candle surrounded tub, not carrying that the water´s heat was already gone, since the cold was pleasing to their still burning skins. After they had dressed as well as possible (Vincent making a mental note that they had to get themselves new clothes the next night as the present ones were utterly torn and blood soaked), they discarded of the corpses and went back to their home as dawn was drew near.

TBC

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** ^^'**

**JiLLiBeanz:** Hehehe, yes, it seems that everyone has his/her own ideas about vampires^^ I am certainly influenced by Rice and Stoker, but I added a few ideas of my own... Just bought a semi-scientific study about the development of the vampire-myth, maybe that´ll give me some more ideas. And well, Yazoo certainly got Vincent´s attention, just probably not intentionally XD But they´re on good terms now again and Vincent stopped being sulky^^ Hope you liked it and thank you very much for reviewing!

**Valitiel:** Hehe, we´ll see what was meant by 'transformation' a bit later^^ And indeed, nothing escapes Vincent´s hawkeyes- even though this time it wasn´t that hard for him to figure out, it was practically spilled out before his feet XD I´m glad you liked it and thank you so much for leaving a comment!

**Review please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter, thanks to jsakurachan1 for the wonderful betaing!**

* * *

4

Yazoo was leaning against the timber framing of the house behind him with one hand holding his arm and a foot resting against the wall. He was waiting for Vincent to tell the tailor what they wanted and give him their measures. Naturally they couldn´t simply let the man take them himself, for their lack of heartbeat and their cold bodies could have raised the tailor's suspicions.

Idly he let his gaze wander over the filthy ground, observing the trial of muddy water running by.

"Ya-yazoo?" The startled question made him look up and come face to face with two astonished, chocolate eyes that filled with joy and relief.

He looked at her face silently, feeling not as half as pleased to see her as she was, having found him.

Two unwelcome arms wrapped around his torso suddenly as she pulled him in a tight hug, tears running down her face. "Thank god you are safe and sound! Everyone was so worried after you vanished, saying that you were dead or even worse! _I_ was worried…"

Yazoo couldn´t quite share her enthusiasm and looked to the tailor´s shop, trying to magically summon his master so he could take care of the rather inauspicious situation.

"What are you doing here?" He asked stiffly, watching her pulling out a handkerchief and drying her eyes after she had let go of him.

"My father thought it was safer for me to live here for a while until everything was settled again and," She paused, casting her eyes downwards, continuing quietly, "until my marriage with Cloud Strife could take place."

"I see," the vampire said slowly, taking another quick glance at the shop, head tilted. Vincent could take a while to chose the textures for their cloths, so he probably wouldn´t come to Yazoo´s rescue anytime soon. He had to take matters into his own hands to keep the damage at a minimum. Summoning a sweet smile to his lips, he pulled an arm around the lovely woman, but not quite touching her slim hip, and ushered her away from the house.

"Well, I can assure you that I have never felt better and that I am utterly sorry for having make you worry. But after I was struck with a serious case of illness, my master deemed it necessary to bring me to a specialist who happened to live in this town." Slowly he led her to a side alley, where they were hidden from any possible watching eyes. The street was empty at this hour of night but one could never be too sure and Tifa had been out, as well.

"There was no time to contact you, I´m afraid, but since I have fully recovered now our marriage shouldn´t be problematic any longer. That is, if you still wish to marry me?"

He shot her an expectant look, pretending to be a little heartbroken in case she decided that she didn´t want him anymore, but Tifa reassuringly smiled at him.

"I do. Actually, my marriage with Cloud was some kind of an emergency plan. We know each other since we were children, and have been friends ever since, but there are no tender feelings involved. He´s still grieving over his bride´s death, too."

Suddenly she looked aghast, a hand flying to her mouth. "I´m sorry, you probably don´t know, but Aeris, she´s… dead."

He made a face as if he indeed hadn´t known to not make her suspicious, and the mayor´s daughter laid a hand on his arm in a soothing manner. "I am sorry," she said, looking genuinely sorrowful.

Hiding his face behind his long hair, Yazoo harshly said, as if on the verge of tears, "It´s not your fault," clinging to her hand and effectively dragging her into the alley.

"You were very close, weren´t you?" She asked sympathetically, letting herself be pulled into his embrace. Fathomlessly looking over the woman´s shoulder, he choked a, "Yes," and parted his lips, long canines forcing their way out of his jaw. Her pulsing carodite was looking so very tempting and radiating the sweet, promising scent of her virgin blood...

Tifa was already drawn in by his siren song, unmovingly resting in his arms and staring at nothing in particular with dreamy eyes. Sharp teeth sunk into her throat and she let out a soft sigh, willingly letting him suck his blood.

"Back into the darkness you came from, demon!!!!"

A blinding light suddenly made the silver haired youth withdraw his canines and pull away from his victim. Tifa sank to the ground, dazed, but she was of no interest to the vampire any longer, as he saw himself confronted with a heavily breathing, furious blond, who stood before him with his silver cross held in front of him.

"So it really was you…" the young man growled, outraged, as he watched the thin trail of blood running from the other´s elongated teeth and over his chin.

Yazoo tilted his head in anger and made a step forward, but was repelled by the cross thrusting further into his direction. Hissing he moved back as Cloud made his way forward to shoo him away from the unconscious Tifa. "You killed her…" the blond growled even more fiercely, his lithe form trembling with anger and wrath.

"Yesss," the vampire hissed, taking some sadistic pleasure from his enemy's distraught condition, and demonstratively licking his lips, as he still crawled back. "I drank her sweet blood until her little heart stopped. It was _so good." _

Cloud was shaking with barely restrained rage and sorrow.

"But you know what? She liked it. A lot. Your lovely little bride let me drink her blood willingly, although she could have refused me. Because she didn´t care what happened to her, as long as I was happy…"

"DIE, YOU WRETCHED SPAWN OF THE DEVIL!!!" Clinging to his cross, Cloud suddenly leaped forward, beyond control now, but Yazoo caught Cloud's raised fist with his hand mid-air. Instantly his hand was burning with blazing pain though, and the smell of burnt flesh hit his nose.

With insane satisfaction the blond grinned at the moaning youth, wrapping both his hands around the vampire´s holding the cross and pressing it even deeper into the acrid object. Before more damage could be done, however, the spiky haired young man suddenly flew through the air, hitting a wall and dazedly sliding to the ground.

Vincent didn´t even bother to check if he was still alive, instead hunching over his pained lover, who had sunk to his knees and clung to his hand, in which the cross was still doing its purifying. With quick fingers Vincent pulled it out of the teen´s burnt flesh and cast it aside, where it clattered to the ground. Then he helped the pained young man up, and as quickly as he could led him out of town, leaving a dripping trail of blood behind them.

*

"How are you feeling?" Vincent helped his confused partner up, carefully reaching for his hand. Yazoo didn´t look very good, his skin was pale and waxy and he was still in pain. After a night's rest he should have healed considerably, but he was still young and in desperate need for blood.

The younger vampire just hissed, eyes unfocused and canines resting over his bottom lip while he let Vincent inspect his burned palm. There was a black, cross shaped hole, the rims of the wounds were tattered and at one point the white of a bone flickered through the burnt flesh.

Stroking over the boy´s head in sympathy, Vincent let go of his injured hand, gently laying it on the rim of the coffin.

"Thirsty," Yazoo croaked, his nostrils flaring as his body searched for the necessary scent of blood.

"I know," Vincent said quietly, "we will go right awa-". He stopped, alarmed, as his ears caught a sound that shouldn´t have been there. Hurrying to the stairs, one hand on the cold stones, his ears perked to catch the noise that came from up into the church. There was… bellowing… rushed footsteps of a large group of people… and… bloodhounds.

Vincent´s eyes widened in disbelief when he heard a very familiar voice shouting at his followers, "The dogs followed the trail of blood, they must be here somewhere! Be careful, do not let them entice you! As long as you have the cross you are safe!!!"

This couldn´t… Of all times, why now?! Vincent grimly reached out with his mind to take control over the dogs. It might be too late already, but at least he could deter them from finding him and Yazoo too quickly. As long as the hounds didn´t find the hidden door they would still have some time…

Through the eyes of the dogs he could see at least ten pairs of feet, including those of the mob´s leader Cloud Strife, running through the high grass towards the ruin. They were holding torches while large metal crosses were hanging conspicuously over their chests, bumping up and down against their clothes while the men surrounded their hideout. When the dogs started to sniff at the tall weeds, every single one of them following a different direction suddenly, the group came to a confused halt. Some of the men scratched their heads and several others followed their hunters back into the woods.

While Vincent still controlled the dogs he went back to the coffin where Yazoo lay on his side, looking miserable but also strangely dangerous. "Thirsty," he repeated to no one in particular, his mind numb with pain and hunger.

"Yes, yes, we will find something to drink soon," the older vampire said absent-mindedly, heaving the boy over his shoulder. At least there was no resistance from the other he would have had to deal with.

He went to a shadowed corner of the cellar and, pushing one of the plain stones, a hidden door opened allowing Vincent to slip out of the room. It slid shut behind the two vampires as Vincent touched another mechanism and guided them into a small, pitch black tunnel. The cloaked vampire followed its direction for a while, listening to the men finally give up on wanting to follow their dogs and instead executing their leader´s order to search the ruin instead.

Eventually the moonlight shining ahead of Vincent indicated the cave´s exit, and, relieved, Vincent slipped out into the night. They were surrounded by another ruin at the foot of the hill. That had been close, too close. But there was probably still time to go back and get it. Carefully, he placed Yazoo on the ground, leaning the dead teenager against a mossy rock.

"Yazoo, listen to me," he crouched down before the youth, taking his face into both hands and making him look up. "Strife and his followers are about to find our hideout and I have to go back to retrieve certain things that should not be found by them. I promise that you will get blood soon, just be patient a little longer-"

Out of the corner of his eye the cloaked man noticed a very distressing flicker, and turning his head while still holding Yazoo in place, he watched in horror as high flames erupted from the ruin. Apparently, since they hadn´t been able to find the entrance to the cellar, the mob had decided to just smoke them out.

"Do not move, I will be right back!" With that, Vincent ran back into the tunnel, leaving the boy with his head hanging to the side.

*

"Ya sure that it´s around here?"

"The dog ran here, didn´t she?"

"Yeah, but all the others went somewhere else…"

"Shut up, ma girl has a fine nose, she´ll get us to da damn freaks in no time!"

"Ya think that we´ll find something?"

"Sure, I heard that this Valentine guy was some rich bastard, I bet their basement is stuffed with gold and jewels and stuff. We´ll just kill them and take it, then get rid of that spiky´s ass and we´ll be fine men."

"Yeah, hehe… But…"

"What´s it now?!"

"What if the cross´s not workin´?"

"Spiky said it would, didn´t he? Said he even injured one of the blood suckers. And there was their blood, eh?"

"Yeah, you´re right, guess I´m a little nervous…"

"'s alright. Is not everyday that ya go to hunt down a damn bloodsucker- hey girl, what´s wrong, why ya growling?"

"Uh- I think there´s something in the bushes… Maybe it´s one of them!"

"Hehe, then he´s up for some big surprise, that bast-AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!"

"Oh my god! A-away demon, see the holy cross an- urgh!"

TBC

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**JiLLiBeanz:** Thank you for participating in the survej! That will help a lot^^ And thank you for reviewing as, you´re right, at least he got some fun afterwards XD

**sareyva:** Hehe, it´s funny that you mentioned that particular part, because I was thinking for a long time if it wasn´t too OOC. But then I thought that Yazoo was rather snappy in AC as well, so I went with it^^ Glad you like it, and we will certainly hear more about Vincent´s past a bit later. Thanks for reviewing!

**Valitiel:** Yes, it was about time that Vincent stopped with the extra-angsting, he´s angsting enough when he isn´t sulky XD I suppose if someone told me that I can´t eat sweets from now on I´d still at least try it, so that´s what I thought the two of them would try too^^ I´m happy you like it and thank you for the feedback!

**Review please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to jsakurachan1 for betaing!**

**Enjoy!**

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**5  
**

Vincent fought his way through the smoky tunnel, one arm held up before his pale face to shield it from the heat while he stubbornly inched forward with furrowed brows. He still could make it in time, just a little further…

Finally his other hand that had been wandering over the walls felt the mechanism and after a second he was faced with an inferno of flames angrily reaching out for him.

Hissing, he shielded his face with both arms, frantically searching for the coffin in the blazing room.

There it was! It hadn´t been claimed by the flames yet.

With inhuman speed Vincent leaped forward, grabbing Yazoo´s burial case by the sides and dragging it through the growing flames. It became difficult however, when he tried to pull it into the relatively safe but tight tunnel.

With all the power he could summon (and that was quite a bit), the vampire braced his feet against the ground and pulled at the bulky item. He would be damned if he didn´t get it out now, it was only a little further! The first flames started to lick at the coffin´s back, the dry wood soon braising and hissing. With gritted teeth, Vincent pulled and pushed at the coffin even more desperately, his face smeared with soot.

He couldn´t just give up now! It was the last thing that reminded him of her, the last thing of her belongings she had left behind…

The flames reached the coffin´s middle part by now as the back was fully ablaze. The heat eventually made the vampire withdraw, hurrying out of the tunnel as a darting flame erupted in the room where an oil lamp had caught fire and trailed behind the fleeing man.

He rolled outside just before the fire could blaze through the tunnel's entrance into the night sky. Coming to his feet he watched with a tight expression as the thick black smoke billowed out of the cavern, rolling into the darkness where the wind disrupted it and blew it away.

The vampire stood there trying to process his loss before something else came to mind and he shook his head. He couldn´t afford the luxury of grieving right now, they had to go away from here, fast!

Spinning around he went to help his lover up, but discovered that there was no sign of Yazoo whatsoever.

Bewildered, and his mouth building a grave line, Vincent turned in a fast circle to see if the boy probably had hidden between the rocks, but inwardly he already knew that this wasn´t the case. If anything, Yazoo had gone hunting.

Cursing under his breath, the vampire reached out his mental claws and searched the area until he could sense him a mile up the hill.

And apparently he wasn´t alone, as the metallic scent of blood also hit Vincent's nose. Without wasting any more precious time the vampire ran towards the place where his lover was right now, resisting the urge to just spread his wings and fly. The moon was coming out from behind the clouds again and would have made him a very visible silhouette against the sky.

With gritted teeth he made his way through the woods, trying to get in contact with the bloodhound that he had sent in this area, but the beast wasn´t alive anymore and hence unable to provide him with the much needed information.

Vincent could feel another presence approaching too, being quite ahead of him and by now they must have already met with his partner. And this was bad, because if he could trust his senses -and they had never before failed him- the person in question was none other than Cloud Strife himself.

The sight that greeted the cloaked vampire upon reaching their meeting place was rather gory. A dead dog, whom had been ripped in half, was lying a few feet away, tongue hanging out of her yap and her intestines flowing out from the other end of her smashed body. The ground was slippery with blood and guts. Two men were lying around in the mess, obviously dead, as their throats had been torn open. One didn´t need to be an educated man to figure out who was responsible for that. One of the men was clinging to his useless cross, but his face was hidden by a pair of booted feet that sturdily stood on the ground.

Grimly, Cloud Strife held his cross in front of him, albeit a lot calmer than the last time they had met. Yazoo was leaning against a tree, shielding his eyes from the blinding light that radiated from the holy item and that only he and Vincent could see. The older vampire was beside him in an instant, pulling his red cloak over the hunched figure and glowering at Cloud, who had raised his other hand too, which held another cross.

"Back, back into the pits of hell you came from, demons!" He intoned almost solemnly, slowly coming towards them.

Vincent observed him calmly, trying to negotiate. He really would have rather not to kill the boy. Actually he even could comprehend his intense craving for revenge, but he would definitely do it, if he must. "Cloud Strife, put away your childish toys and we will leave this place at once. You have my word that your acquaintances will experience no harm from us. I also promise that we will not come back here."

"Don´t waste your breath, demon. There is no validity to your mendacious words; the last time you promised me something I found my bride dead three days later, killed by your spawn!" The young man had become quite agitated as he steadily made his way towards them.

"It was an accident," the vampire tried to soothe the boy with calm words, feeling Yazoo shy away from the approaching light. Even after the blood of two victims he hadn´t fully recovered yet. And being so young a vampire, the cross was doing serious harm to him.

"An accident!" Cloud laughed bitterly, but then his face became grave again, "If you want to call it that, you can call your own deaths an accident as well!"

He jumped forward to thrust his crosses into the raven haired vampire´s undefended face, but found himself hitting a tree trunk instead. Dazed he slid down the wood, loosening his grip around his weapons just for a brief moment, but for Vincent it was enough.

He roughly pulled the young man back against the tree and the crosses fell in the dry grass, their blinding light vanishing.

"Now listen child, and listen well, for if you refuse to do as I tell you there will be no second chance for you," the vampire growled, tightening his grip. "I do sympathize with your grief over a loved person´s loss, but I will not tolerate your childish revenge against my person or the ones under my custody. If I ever see your face again you will not survive our encounter, I can assure you of that."

He let go of the frightened man, who trembled under his demonic gaze as Vincent´s eyes started glowing and sharp teeth slid over full lips, just for good measure. "I see we understand each other."

As Cloud pressed himself against the tree with trembling legs, breath heavy and shaking, Vincent took a few steps back, never moving his eyes from the blond in case he attempted a foolish surprise attack when the vampire turned his back on him.

Slowly the vampire bent down, gathering Yazoo -who had fallen into a state of feverish unconciousness- in his arms and, spreading his wings, he leapt from the ground and vanished into the darkness.

*

Green eyes slid open, slowly taking in the blurred surroundings. Something was… different, Yazoo thought drowsily. Not only was he greeted with mossy, wet stones and a cold wind instead of the warm, candle light and dry cellar. There was also a stench that was very much not the familiar one smelling of old books and oil. This one was disgustingly sweet.

What further added to his confusion was the fact that he wasn´t lying in his usual velvet lined, wooden coffin, but against cold, uncomfortable stone.

And he wasn´t alone.

His gaze shifted to the side, where he was met with a broad, red cloaked chest. And then the young vampire also noticed the weight of an arm that embraced him.

"I see you are awake," the low voice of his master whispered as he shifted slightly to have a better look at his pupil´s face.

"Hn." A dazed half-nod was all Yazoo could manage, still confused and not quite fully awake yet.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I think…" He blinked drowsily, but then held his hand before his face as the meaning of his own words sunk in. "It´s gone." Turning his hand around before his astonished eyes, he flexed his fingers twice. There was absolutely no trace of the cross shaped injury whatsoever, his palm was as white and unblemished as it had been before his painful encounter with the holy symbol.

"Do you remember anything of the previous night?" The other vampire asked gently, taking the boy´s hand with his left and stroking with his thumb over its palm.

After a moment of concentrated thinking, Yazoo finally shook his head a little, expectantly looking up for his master to explain the situation to him. By now he had noticed that they were in some kind of tomb; and an occupied grave at that, for the smell of rotten flesh made that fact almost indignantly apparent.

"After we fled the town those who would kill you and me found our home and burned the church down, forcing me to bring you here to heal," Vincent explained stiffly.

Yazoo´s eyes widened a fraction in disbelief as he growled, "Did you kill them?", but wisely refraining from pointing out 'I told you so'.

"No. You did, two of them at least."

The young vampire snorted, not feeling any satisfaction at all. "Where is 'here'?"

"Does it matter?" Vincent replied tiredly.

"No," Yazoo said, sensing his master´s deep distress, and after a while asked carefully, "It was Strife, wasn´t it?"

"Yes."

"Hn," Yazoo shifted his head a little, so that it rested against the other vampire´s chest more comfortably. "I should have known."

They just lay there for a while, both of them occupied with their own thoughts, until Vincent´s deep voice echoed through the dark crypt again. "Do you miss her?"

There was no need to point out that the recently deceased Aeris was meant, but the older vampire assumed that the lack of death threats from his pupil must mean that he felt guilty enough to think that Cloud had a justified reason for his revenge.

"Yes," Yazoo admitted quietly, almost forlornly looking at the moist ceiling.

Wordlessly, Vincent pulled him a little closer, though he seemed to be caught up in his own grief. Apparently the loss of their belongings pained him, which Yazoo could comprehend very well. There had been some very rare books in the cellar, as well as a great amount of gold and jewellery.

Sighing, he moved his eyes back to his melancholy master, and said, in an attempt to console him, "At least we are safe. Maybe this is a chance. We can start all over again and just forget about the past and leave it behind."

Vincent graced him with an indecipherable look and seemed to ponder on that for a while.

Forget? He had tried that for centuries, without much success… But silently he asked himself if he had ever _really_ wanted to leave the past behind. Maybe Yazoo was right. Maybe it was time to at least seriously try and… start over.

"Well then," he finally said slowly, "what do you suggest we are doing now?"

Satisfied, Yazoo looked back at his feet again, idly stroking over the back of his lover´s hand.

"I suggest we go away, somewhere far, preferably where it´s a little colder and the nights will be longer. We´ll find a mansion and this time we´ll not hide in there until someone decides that they find us suspicious and smoke us out." He couldn´t help the sarcastic undertone, but continued in a more thoughtful voice, "We´ll live with them, laugh with them, and celebrate their little fancy parties with them. And once they get to know us and accept us in their own rows, their suspicions and defence will sink remarkably. We will be just like them, their neighbours, their friends, and that will make us practically invincible."

His green eyes darkened for a moment. He shifted his gaze back to Vincent´s face, asking, "What do you think?"

Vincent did not look very convinced. For all his long life he had tried to avoid humans whenever he could, fearing that they would become aware of his inhuman nature.

What Yazoo said made sense, though. You wouldn´t suspect someone you trusted and if they made sure that they had drunk enough before their participation in the aristocrats´ nightlife, they would appear almost as human as every original. Besides, he had to admit that the idea made him slightly curious. And it certainly would be a welcome distraction and change of pace.

Therefore he said, placing a gentle kiss on the hand holding his own, "If you wish."

"Hn," A small smile graced the younger vampire´s face, before something hit his mind and he furrowed his thin brows in displeasure. "But we don't have any money, do we?"

"Perhaps you do not." The other´s lips quirked up in faint amusement, and he lifted a dark eyebrow, "But I am not so stupid as to house my belongings in a single place."

Relieved, the boy nodded "Good. Else we would have had to kill some haughty landlord, which would have been troublesome…"

Vincent frowned, remarking a little sarcastically, "How convenient that my foresight spared us from such bothersome actions."

"Yes, you´re brilliant sometimes," the boy beamed at him and the other vampire just gave up with a sigh, too tired to implement some morals into his lover at this moment.

"But first I suggest that we leave here," Yazoo wrinkled his nose a little, "and get something to drink."

tbc

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**Valitiel:** Yes, I never know with whom to sympathize either… Cloud is despaired and has lost someone very important to him, but it wasn´t really Yazoo´s fault either so yeah *sighs* I bet a cross-shaped fleshwound in your palm isn´t very pleasant XD Thank you for reviewing!

**Sareyva**: Hahaha, well, since his bride is dead and he can´t spy on the Valentine household anylonger he must find a new hobby^^ And vampire hunter suits him just fine, doesn´t it? Cloud Van Hellsing… I am happy you liked it and thank you for the comment!

**Review please?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to jsakurachan1 for the awesome betaing!**

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6

"You look great. Very tasty actually."

Yazoo smirked upon the frown that graced his partner´s beautiful, slightly dark features.

Even after three years of living amongst humans Vincent was still wary of being found out…

They had found themselves a nice large town in the north, far away from their former residence and had fallen in love with a huge, castle-like stone mansion, complete with little towers and a huge, beautiful garden surrounding the estate. The sea wasn´t too far away and the harbour provided them with enough visitors, so the disappearance of one or two people per night wasn´t noticed. They had decided to not feast on their acquaintances, for the circle of aristocrats was very well-known and the lack of the one or the other would certainly stir up a commotion that the two of them decidedly did not need.

They had settled in very well, even finding a chubby, older maid that did not ask questions and took care of the house during the day as well as a few servants that were just happy to get paid so well and be left alone most of the time.

It proved to be rather easy to get into the exclusive circle of landlords and their peers, even more so when they (and Yazoo) found out that Vincent Valentine was quite a wealthy and generous man. Soon their parties become famous and the most discussed events amongst their 'new friends'.

Initially they hadn´t planned on locating the socialisations to their own quarters, but it had proven to be far more convenient after some rather distressing encounters with mirrors and crosses in their hosts´ mansions. Nothing dramatic had happened, fortunately, but after that, Vincent and Yazoo had decided to avoid such unpleasant surprises in the future and throw their own nightly attractions on a regular basis.

And evenings they were, providing their guests with the most delicious of dinners, the best musicians available and the most heated, philosophical discussions. People gathered around the two vampires like moths to the flame, totally unaware of their devious nature.

The one or other marriage offer had been made, but was rejected politely. Vincent pretended to still suffer from the loss of his former, now deceased wife, saying that he had promised her on her death-bed that he would never remarry again, which regularly made the ladies sigh with bittersweet romanticism.

Yazoo always said that he felt still too young, earning hearty laughs and slaps on the shoulder from the older male generation that winked at him and mumbled (to be out of earshot of their own wives), that he was right and that he should enjoy his freedom as long as he could.

Some wondered about the relationship between the two, though, whispering that they were more than just platonic friends and that their master-pupil relationship might inherit a little more than was proper. But mostly it was just shrugged off as private business, since no one really wanted to get on their bad side.

They had successfully befriended Mayor Shinra, a powerful man, and made a lot of other friends that would shield them from any harm. They even had managed to get on the good side of the local bishop, a man that was very prone to wine and good food, and after he´d been sent a big box of the best wine from the region and a gracious donation to his church, he even overlooked the fact that they never once visited his mass. Barret Wallace was a religious man who deeply believed in god, mind you, but he also thought that people should find their own ways to the Lord and wasn´t very strict where his services were concerned, as long as the people followed the Lord's Commandments and behaved properly.

Re-adjusting the white, silken neck cloth over his black shirt, Vincent threw another brief glance at his lover who leaned against the doorframe to his bedroom, still smirking.

"I´m so glad we can´t use mirrors, otherwise I wouldn´t get you out of your room at all… The guests are waiting." Yazoo teased, earning himself a half hearted scowl from Vincent.

"Excuse me for being not too prone on being exposed an inhuman creature," the other vampire said absent-mindedly, still fumbling with his attire. He felt so… naked without his cloak, but the younger vampire had said that it just looked too suspicious and as if he had to hide something (which he actually _had, _but Yazoo had just nonchalantly shrugged his counter off in that manner of his).

"Here, let me help you with that…" The silver haired teen sighed , reaching for the cloth from behind and putting it in place, only to find himself being drawn into an exasperated kiss so that he would just shut up.

Smirking, the older vampire let go of his lover. He noticed his half lidded eyes that turned into a displeased look, and casually recited Yazoo´s earlier words, "The guests are waiting."

Inwardly he shook his head, not being able to help but think that Yazoo´s attitude had rubbed off on him quite a bit lately. Only occasionally, though. He still insisted on his rules for hunting, even though he knew that they unnerved his lover. But he still obeyed them nonetheless.

After snorting his trademark, "Hn," Yazoo straightened his own dishevelled clothes and they made their way down the corridor.

When they appeared on the top of the wide staircase a murmuring went through the crowd and soon after applause erupted as they came down towards their guests, greeting and smiling at them.

That was, Yazoo mainly did the whole smiling and waving act. It had astonished the older vampire to discover that Yazoo had quite a talent to deceive and allure people, proving to be an exceptionally gifted actor and manipulator. Well, maybe it wasn´t that surprising, but it relieved the older greatly because it left him to act in the background. He was the calm and collected counterpart to Yazoo´s 'youthful charm'.

While Vincent joined a group of mostly elderly men, amongst them mayor Shinra and his right hand Tseng -with whom he had admittedly, rather interesting, philosophical discussions- his silver haired partner was instantly surrounded by a group of young aristocrats, both male and female.

"Master Yazoo," one of them cheered, already having rosy cheeks from the generously served wine. "It´s good to see you in high spirits again. Really, it´s a relief to see that not everyone is brooding over the recently rather disconcerting political matters." He demonstratively shot a meaningful look towards Vincent and his group, who had already been entangled in a serious, heated debate.

"Hn, don´t be fooled Denzel, it´s merely blissful ignorance," the vampire returned nonchalantly, earning hearty laughter from the crowd and making the young man´s eyes glow with mirth.

"But I see you have brought a new guest to our house," he said with a raised eyebrow and a charming smile, after he had noticed the woman shyly clinging to Denzel´s arm. "Would you mind introducing this lovely young woman to me?"

"Of course!" Denzel beamed proudly, laying his hand on her arm and declaring, "Marlene, this is Master Yazoo, Yazoo, this is my bride Lady Marlene von und zu Stauffenberg."

"It´s a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Yazoo purred, gallantly bowing before her and kissing the offered hand briefly, his long hair tickling her white skin.

"It´s my pleasure as well, young Master Yazoo," she blushed a little, obviously a little distressed with the attention she had suddenly gained.

"I have to say, you truly have excellent taste. At least, where women are concerned," the vampire said, winking at Lady Marlene and earning himself another round of laughter, including Denzel's.

The young man good naturedly slapped the silver haired teen on the shoulder, saying, "So says the man whose demands are so ridiculously high that not even one lady has managed to catch his heart yet. Feel flattered Marlene."

They erupted into a new fit of laughter as Yazoo answered in a mocked huff "Well, there´s nothing left for me if you so greedily take them all for yourself…"

To Marlene he said, smiling as she looked a little shocked "Do not worry, our Denzel here has long since ceased to be the infamous womanizer he used to be, though there are still some rather wild rumours running around," he winked at her again to indicate that everything was just good natured teasing and she looked quite relieved.

The mood changed slightly, though, as Yazoo noticed something from under the fabric of her corset: a faint, but nonetheless vey visible light.

His eyes narrowed, as he asked, suddenly serious "Excuse me Miss, but may I ask if you, by any chance, wear a cross?"

She nodded hesitantly, startled by his sudden graveness.

"Hn, I see."

"I´m sorry, she doesn´t know and I forgot to ask her to leave it at home," Denzel stepped in, frowning at his bride, who felt even more confused.

But Yazoo donned a lenient smile to his fair features again, explaining to her "Do not worry. But you see, while we have our parties, we want to have fun, and the cross is just an unnecessary reminder of our failure to obey almost all seven deadly sins and therefore we just leave them out."

Giggles went through the rows of young people and Marlene smiled too, still a little uncertain and clinging to the hidden cross.

"You can just leave it in the box at the entrance, Denzel will show you the way," the vampire offered with a graceful gesture of his hand and Denzel nodded, instantly leading her away from the group after another apologetic look at Yazoo.

"And do not get distracted on the way back," the silver haired host called after them, earning himself a blush from the ladies and hearty laughter from the gentlemen.

Inwardly the vampire shook his head in cold wonder. Humans were such easily deceived fools…

The conversation went on about the marriage of Denzel and Marlene and information about her background was exchanged when the vampire noticed a shock of flaxen hair. "Excuse me, but would you consider to spare me a minute?"

The vampire turned around to come face to face with a young man, completely dressed in white, who had a polite expression summoned to his face, though his eyes were somewhat sharp and piercing.

"Of course. What do you need me for, Rufus?" He tossed the man the same charming smile he graced everyone with, but the mayor´s son did not reflect it.

"If you don´t mind I´d rather have this discussed in private."

Yazoo tilted his head in question but placed his untouched wine glass on a golden table standing nearby and excused himself from the group.

Rufus wordlessly led the other through the candle lit hall, passing some red velvet chairs that were occupied by several groups of guests and avoiding the dancing pairs in the middle of the floor.

They made their way through one of the many open doors into the torch lit garden, where more guests were standing and sitting in groups, talking and enjoying the wine and food. They occasionally stood up to greet their host, but Yazoo only spared them a brief smile and followed the other young man, wondering what was so damn important that he had to wander through half of the expansive garden until Rufus was finally satisfied.

Rufus lingered beside a small pond littered with Autumn leaves that reflected portions of the light from the moon overhead.

A huge weeping willow was hovering over the water, its long, thin branches rustling in the gentle breeze and softly stirring the water.

"So? What´s so important?" the vampire asked, leaning against the trunk of the tree, his arms folded over his chest and hiding his impatience perfectly, giving an interested little smile.

Rufus was facing the pond, thoughtfully observing the water´s surface, as he declared in a smooth tone, "I have seen through you."

Yazoo inwardly groaned. Not again. Not so long ago he had had an encounter of a very similar nature with a young man who had started out exactly the same way, only to accuse him of being a sodomite, for he had noticed his lack of interest in women.

He _then_ had taken a huge breath and declared his undying love to Yazoo, pleading with him to leave together and settle down somewhere else where no one knew them. The vampire had patiently but decidedly convinced the desperate man that he was greatly mistaken and it had ended with Denzel getting himself a bride and obviously forgetting about his brief encounter with the love for the same gender.

"Is that so," the vampire said politely, adding. "And what exactly is it that you think to have found out about me?"

Hopefully they could get over with this somehow pleasantly. Despite his rather young age, Rufus was already a powerful acquaintance and would surely inherit his father´s position. It would be unfortunate to loose his favour.

"Well. I have been watching you for quite a while now," the other continued, observing the vampire from out of the corner of his eye. "And you deem me to have quite unusual habits."

Yazoo quirked an eyebrow, casually asking, "Hn. Have I?"

"Yes," came the fathomless reply, as Rufus finally turned around, his face absolutely unreadable. Yazoo could have, of course, read his mind, but somehow the other´s behaviour started to somewhat amused him. Rufus was always so holier-than-thou and his arrogance was infamous. It would be quite funny to see him stomp down from his self built pedestal and declare the true nature of his sexual orientation. At least this was better than the company of the stupid crowd awaiting his return…

"Then, will you enlighten me please, because I´m not aware of being exotic or behaving strange." Yazoo offered a sweet smile that made the other crack a tiny grin himself.

"Well, first off, I would say that your lack of food intake is quite worrisome."

The smile remained on the vampire´s lips, albeit it seemed a little stiff now.

"Hn, I prefer to take my meals in private, with Vincent. If that is all that concerns you…"

"Not quite," Rufus interrupted, unblinking. "There is also the fact that you are never seen in daylight."

"I´m more of a night person," the silver haired teen countered calmly, but his eyes flared a little dangerously. Now this was not as funny as he had thought.

"I understand, I am not much of a day worker myself." Rufus had come wandering towards him, observing the pond with a thoughtful look. "But there is another thing I do not understand and this concerns your wariness -or should I even say _fear_- for the cross and every holy item. And I seriously doubt that the reason you always so nonchalantly offer is the only one."

"And?" Yazoo lifted an eyebrow. So what. Rufus had noticed a few things, nothing to get all worked up over..

"And," Rufus said, coming to a halt and facing the vampire with a strange smile. "that leads me to the conclusion that you and probably your acquaintance too, are what the common parlance describes as _Upir,-_ a bloodsucking undead."

The vampire blankly stared at the blond young man. Then he erupted into rich laughter that rolled through the night, startling a few sleeping birds.

"A-an U-Upir?" Yazoo breathed, holding his stomach, though he didn´t feel amused at all. He had to ridicule Rufus and get that idea out of his head as fast as possible.

"That´s a good one, I had no idea you had such a great sense of humour! I have to tell that to the others, this is just priceless!"

Unfazed, Rufus smiled with him, even laughing a little, though his eyes held no mirth.

"Funny, isn´t it? Though I would not recommend that you to tell anyone else about it, they might take it seriously. And that you certainly would not want now, would you?"

The silver haired man stared at him in disbelieve. "You really believe that, don´t you? You really think I´m that… Upir thing or whatever?!"

"I am utterly convinced that you are," the other replied calmly without even batting an eyelash.

Yazoo shook his head in annoyance, saying very frostily, "This is ridiculous. Maybe you should be more careful with the amount of wine you consume in the future."

He was about to turn around and leave the place, when Rufus spoke up again, sounding a little unsure suddenly, "Yazoo, wait please."

The vampire turned around slowly, his face still looking somewhat indignant.

"I… I apologize. Please, I just found some of your habits rather strange and then I just recently heard about some folk tales that fit to your behaviour. Please accept my apology."

Yazoo eyed the man condescendingly and, reading his current thoughts, he found that Rufus was really embarrassed.

Hence he gave the young man another cold look, but eventually reached out to shake the offered hand, saying, "Very well then. But I will not tolerate another verbal assault agai-" Hissing he withdrew his hand from the sudden pain that pierced his palm, looking up at the blond with narrowed eyes. "What-"

"Just a simple silver spoon I brought with me," Rufus said absent-mindedly, staring at the other´s burned palm and watching with amazement as the wound healed almost instantly. "The folk tale also said that you can´t stand silver and are able to read peoples minds."

Slowly inclining his head and all traces of his earlier charming self gone, the demon finally showed his true face before the mayor´s son, as his eyes became icy, pupils contracting into thin slits and he made slow, predatory steps towards Rufus, voice devoid of any emotion

" I believe you think that you are very cunning and clever now." Rufus instinctively made a step back, but caught his composure soon enough and settled with eyeing the other calmly. "But actually you seem quite dense to me. You should have kept your little observations to yourself." Two razor sharp canines slid over the vampire´s bottom lip, as he came nearer.

The next moment, Rufus found himself pressed against the tree trunk and his head was brutally forced back. Before Yazoo could attempt to alter his memory, though, Rufus breathed "Hold it! Do you really thing I would be stupid enough to face you if I had not to say something else?"

"Hn. What could a mere human say that would be of interest to me…"

"Well, you could at least listen to what I have to say. Afterwards you can still kill me, can´t you?"

With narrowed eyes, the vampire loosened his grip a little, without letting go of Rufus entirely and then finally said clinically. "You have two minutes. Speak."

TBC

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**Trying my hands on some Anne Rice...^^**

**Valitiel: **Hahaha, oh my, that´d be one hell of a vampy-slayer-weapon! We´ll get to know soon who Vincent´s lost love is, don´t worry. I don´t think it´ll be that much of a surprise, but we´ll see ;)

**sareyva:** Hm, I figured with their enhanced ultra-violett views they could see the cross in a peculiar way, since it obviously is so tightly woven into their destiny. Warning signals or so... If Cloud is clever though he stays away from them. Now they escaped his reach for a while anyway^^ And they really need a fresh start, they have to leave all that baggage behind them *sigh* Or maybe I needed a fresh start, dunno XD

**JilliBeanz:** Hahaha, not a good mixture? Well, I guess fire was the only powerful weapon back there then (halleluja -_-) so it had to be included... And every vampire story needs a slayer ;)

**Thank you for reading and reviewing, it means so much to me, for realz!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Heya, new chapter, enjoy! And big thankies to jsakurachan1 for the wonderful betaing!**

**Warnings: Smut lies ahead of you.  
**

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7

Vincent nodded absent-mindedly at a comment Tseng made, but his attention was entirely focused on something else.

For the last few nights he had noticed something that sat quite strange with him. And the worrying thing was Yazoo´s sudden interest in a particular human going by the name of Rufus Shinra. First the vampire had thought that it was just one of Yazoo´s quirks. Occasionally he bestowed some of his attention upon a particular person when he or she proved to become an especially powerful or promising acquaintance in the future. But his obsession with the mayor´s son was going a little too far for Vincent´s liking now…

He didn´t like the strange looks they were exchanging and he even less liked their long strolls in the garden, where they were 'discussing important future matters', as Yazoo had told him upon his questioning.

He had also lifted an eyebrow in that manner of his and declared that Vincent shouldn´t be so damn jealous, he wasn´t throwing a hissy fit about his relationship with Tseng either. This on itself had been strange enough, for Yazoo normally wasn´t so disrespectful and Vincent had growled that there was absolutely nothing going on between himself and the mayor´s right hand man, that he wasn´t 'throwing a hissy fit' at all but merely _asking _and the day that he would be jealous because of Yazoo would be the day the earth was declared a sphere.

He then had stated that Yazoo was free to do whatever he wanted and that he didn´t care. Vincent had gone back to reading his book, totally ignoring the other´s presence.

Yazoo had said, 'Fine', trying to look indifferent (though Vincent knew exactly that he had hurt him) and left the room. Since then they hadn´t talked more than what was absolutely necessary and the atmosphere between them was testy, to say the least. But either of them absolutely refused to see why they should apologize. Vincent because his pride forbade it (and because he wasn´t jealous at all!) and Yazoo because Vincent still treated him like a child and was at fault anyway.

Since they had decided to go hunt for themselves -for the time didn´t allow them to do it after one another with the other watching- they had seen each other only at the parties -but hadn´t talked at all- and when they went into their coffins. But now Yazoo always came later, stretching his nighttimes to the full extent. And looking suspiciously satisfied and blissful.

"You noticed too?" The quiet voice was whispering beside him, so the others couldn´t hear and Tseng sent a meaningful look towards Yazoo and Rufus, who were standing a little off from their group and attempting to go out on another 'stroll'.

Vincent just tilted his head in a facile manner, telling the whispering demons to shut up.

"I thought so," the ebony haired man said, sipping at his wine glass.

"What do you think?" the vampire asked as quietly, trying to sound not too interested.

"Well," the other man said, crossing his legs. "They seem to have become quite close recently."

Vincent nodded, morosely watching them step out into the garden and vanish between the trees. If only he hadn´t taught Yazoo to shield his mind the matter could have been settled within mere seconds.

"Yes, it seems so…"

"Does it bother you?"

Vincent shot the man a look, but his face was as indecipherable as always. "No."

"Hm," Tseng stroked a finger over the rim of his crystal glass.

"Does it bother you?"

"Well… I am not sure if it should. Since I am Rufus´ teacher and therefore responsible for his preparation of inheriting mayor Shinra´s post and wealth one day, I have to admit that I am a little concerned about the… nature of their relationship. Do not get me wrong, I believe that Yazoo is a fine young man, but his charm does not fail to entice both, women and men. Master Rufus shall marry next year…" He did not get any clearer, but his implicit concern was obvious.

Vincent´s mood became even more cranky, the demons´ snickering echoing through his head, fuelling this vile little feeling of suspicion that had started to nag at the back of his mind. His expression remained perfectly neutral, though.

"What makes you think that they would partake in actions that might deter young master Shinra from wanting to marry?"

Albeit the whole conversation seemed to make him just as uncomfortable as the vampire he nonetheless replied in his usual, diplomatic tone, "Well, Master Rufus always seems to be quite… exhausted after their strolls, which shouldn´t be long enough to actually take that much of his strength. There are… marks on his body as well."

Instantly a very unwelcome, very vivid image appeared in the vampire´s mind. It showed in very clear colours a naked Rufus Shinra, sweaty bangs hanging in his face as he penetrated the, also naked, form in front of him. Arms wrapped around a lithe, pale body he nipped at the creature´s long throat, brushing against moon light hair and making a name fall from Yazoo´s lips that wasn´t Vincent´s.

Forcing the picture aside the vampire decided that he had heard enough. After a not very convincing, "I am sure they behave themselves, do not worry," he excused himself and pretended to go for the latrine. Instead he crept outside into the garden though, driven by the demonic creatures´ gloating, spiteful whispers of betrayal and the haunting moans and sighs that accompanied the image that wouldn´t let him go.

With quick strides he followed the small path winding through the garden. His eyes were glowing in a fiery red, wildly searching for their presence between the trees and flowers. When he found the couple Rufus was just about to open his shirt, Yazoo ordering him to hurry.

Before they could start anything in _his_ garden however, Vincent and the demons had gone into full raging (and not the slightest bit jealous, mind you!) mood and with a feral growl he smashed the offending human that had dared to touch what was his, to the ground, baring his fangs into his shocked face.

Now the prissy little mayor´s son didn´t look so haughty anymore, did he?! Vincent wondered how he would look like with his genitals shredded into tiny little pieces and-

"What are you doing?! Stop it!"

Two strong hands were clawing at his shoulders, rather persistently trying to drag him away from his victim.

"What I am doing?" the demon snarled, turning his head to glare at his pupil. "What are _you_ doing? And with Rufus Shinra of all people!" The disgust was written all over his scowling face.

Yazoo blankly stopped his attempts at saving the mayor´s son and blinked, before he broke into a self-satisfied smirk. "You _are_ jealous."

The irritated growl from his lover reminded him that now wasn´t the time to discuss this particular matter.

"It´s not what you think, though."

The vampire just snorted in disbelief.

"Really, he was just providing me with blood."

"...What?"

"It´s your own fault. You said I couldn´t kill more than one victim each night. So I made a deal with Shinra and now he gives me some of his blood every once in a while," the young vampire explained, arms crossed over his chest and a completely innocent look on his face.

Slowly rising from the blond -who had simply fainted from the shock- and pushing the demons back into submission, Vincent came to stand at his full height and slowly rubbed his temple in exasperation, eyes closed.

"You… So, what does he get in return? Do not try to fool me, Rufus Shinra certainly is anything but selfless." He shot his lover a warning look.

"Well," the other said, observing his fingernails in concentration, "I said that I would kill his father." Upon seeing the disbelieving, sore tilt of the other´s head, he added, "Of course I would not have done that. If he had become too persistent I would have just erased his memory."

"I can not believe this…" Angrily Vincent shook his head, throwing a look to the young man on the ground.

"You will end this foolish game at once and alter his memories. And you will refrain from such actions in the future, are we clear?"

Yazoo simply nodded, looking somewhat deploring.

"I am going back." Exasperated, the older vampire shook his head again, and went back to the party.

Later that night, as Vincent was having a much needed hot bath for relaxation, a slim figure slipped in and two arms wrapped around his neck, a mischievous voice breathing into his ear

"You know, you are really cute when you´re jealous…"

"I am going to show you just how 'cute' I am," the vampire growled, pulling the teenager into the tub and going at him for much needed make up sex.

Yazoo just gave a low chuckle, letting himself be drawn into the vampire´s lap, his white shirt becoming transparent from the water soaking into the fabric and making it cling to his slender body.

"Now look, you made me all wet…" he drawled in a mock, accusing tone, looking down on himself.

Vincent just snorted, his hands stirring the steaming water a little as his hands wandered over the youth´s bare legs, spreading them a little and adjusting Yazoo´s position.

"I will do a lot more before we are done…" He harshly breathed into the dead teen´s ear, then nibbled and bit into the soft flesh.

"I hope so," Yazoo sighed, craning his neck a little and stroking with his hands through Vincent´s raven hair, letting the long tresses slide through his fingers.

The vampire pressed him closer, his hands travelling up the others buttocks, tingling over the tight flesh and pressing him further against his naked body. At the same time his tongue slid over the youth´s collar bone, reaching the soaked fabric. Trailing down further the wet muscle bumped against a nipple standing up from under the wet shirt. With a quick movement the vampire licked it, making Yazoo arch into him, moaning.

Vincent moved a little forward, pressing his erection against Yazoo´s, his fingers sliding over the others entrance and stimulating it with quick strokes. He wasn´t very patient tonight, and Yazoo apparently wasn´t either as he captured the man´s teasing mouth that still worked his nipple with a growl and drew him into an almost feverish kiss.

Vincent just obliged, forcing his tongue behind sharp teeth and ravishing the sweet hot mouth filled with the enticing taste of blood. Sucking and licking the red liquid from each others mouth, eyes half lidded from the waves of pleasure that swept through their excited, heated bodies, their movements became more frantic.

Vincent pushed a finger past Yazoo´s entrance, the hot water serving as a natural lubricant. Snarling the silver haired vampire let himself be stretched, impatiently rubbing his erection against Vincent´s to find some relief. He was burning, the blood making him even more dizzy and ecstatic.

"Hurry," he breathed into his master's ear, rolling his hips in a sensual manner to make Vincent go _deeper_ and _faster_ because he needed to release the tension that was building inside of him, driving him _crazy_.

Instead of following the half command, though, Vincent suddenly withdrew his fingers that had so deliciously slid in and out of him. A deep growl came from his throat, sounding displeased and a little desperate.

The raven haired man looked up at his lover, saying in a low, husky but determined tone "Ah, but you will have to learn your lesson first, will you not?"

Yazoo narrowed his eyes in confusion, but Vincent pressed him against his erect member, making the other shudder and elicit a moan. He held his student firmly in place, searching for his rosy nipple again, sucking it and pushing it up with his tongue.

"Yesss," the silver haired teen helplessly obliged, fingers digging into the mans shoulder as he arched into the other´s mouth, wanting to get touched _more_, and being refilled again, preferably by his master´s thick, throbbing _cock_.

"Now then, you will never do such a stupid thing again, will you?" Vincent growled, his finger finding its way back to Yazoo´s needy hole, brushing against it in a cruel, teasing manner.

"I won´t," his student groaned, eyes closed, lips licking away some blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Promise," the raven haired vampire ordered, his free hand wandering over Yazoo´s inner tight through the slowly cooling water.

"I promise I won´t- Aahh!"

Vincent´s hand slowly wrapped around his lovers hard member, starting to bump it with idle strokes, making the youth cling to his body and throw his head back.

"You will not do what?"

"I won´t... do it... again… Go faster," Yazoo moaned absent-mindedly, rocking his hips into the movements of his lover´s hand that rubbed up and down his dick.

"That is good to hear," the other vampire almost drawled, panting a little. He was incredibly aroused by the young man writhing on his lap, and shifted a little in the tub, his own hard cock slipping between Yazoo´s buttocks. "You must admit that was a very, very silly idea…"

"Hnnn," Yazoo stretched, ending in another deep moan when finally the tip of his master´s cock slid inside of him, pushing away the heated flesh and burying itself in the warm body.

Groaning, Vincent let go of Yazoo´s erection, instead wrapping his arms around his slender body and the wet fabric that was still somehow covering his upper body. He pressed him further down on his cock, needing the relief himself now as much as Yazoo did.

Once he was fully seated inside the others body, he started to slowly pull out and push in with a steady rhythm, slowly at first, but becoming more forceful soon. Yazoo didn´t object but instead only moved with him, riding him with growing ferocity.

With one hand holding Yazoo´s head in a firm grip, the raven haired vampire pulled him into another bruising kiss, penetrating him with more feverish movements. Tongues and teeth clashed, more blood adding to their ecstasy, as their panting bodies rubbed against each other, making the water in the tub swirl around and the splashing adding to the slapping noises.

"You taste good…" the older vampire breathed, his elongated teeth smeared with blood that was instantly licked away by a sensual stroke with his tongue.

He leaned his forehead against Yazoo´s chest, fully concentrated and lost in the sensation of his cock sliding in and out of that wonderful, tight heat, faster and faster, bumping, rubbing that spot that eventually made Yazoo spastically buck, throw his head back and cum into the water with a feral growl.

Drawing his brows together, eyes shut tightly, Vincent pushed inside one last time, ball deep, shooting his load inside his students body with a hiss. His whole body tensed, holding the gasping vampire in his arms in place while he was claimed by his overwhelming orgasm.

After what seemed like an eternity their bodies finally slackened, Yazoo collapsing on him, head resting against his masters shoulder, eyes half shut. His breathing came out in slow, little shudders, wet silver hair hanging in his face.

Vincent relaxed his grip, carefully pulling out and gently stroking over the teen's back. He drew him a little closer, pushing some hair out of Yazoo´s face. They sat their in the cold water for another half an hour before dawn forced them to go back to their coffins.

tbc

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**Next chapter we will finally meet the evil antagonist, I promise^^**

**Valitiel: **Hahaha, not telling! You´ll see XD Well, Rufus is up to no good, apparently, but he has found a willing partner in crime in Yazoo, since they both equally lack morals. Poor Vincent, he has hands full with keeping his pupil in check XD

**JiLLiBeanz: **I am happy that you liked it so much! And of course I had to update early this weekend then^^ Yes well, I had this scene with Marius and Armand in mind, when they were in Venice and would have these fancy parties at Bianca´s house... I thought it could work similarly here and yes, I love her work! Currently reading Blackwood Farm, and I hope to finish it today^^ What´s your favorite book fo hers, if I may ask?

**YazooValentine:** Hehehe, I bet Rufus´d love to get into Yazoo´s pants, but as wicked as our favorite bishi boy may be, he is fully dedicated to Vincent right now XD So no Rufus/Yazoo -only in Vincent´s imagination maybe. Oh, and btw, I´ll sit down to work on your request this weekend, so hopefully I´ll get it done today or tomorrow and I decided to stick to your idea^^

**VincentV:** Thank you so much for the reviews! I´m really happy you liked it so far and I hope you´ll enjoy the new chapters as well! I have written quite a few so far, so there´ll be at least 10 new chapters^^

**Review please?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to jsakurachan1 for the wonderful proof reading!**

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8

Two relatively peaceful years followed, before they decided that it was time to leave and settle down in a new city. Although everything went well and their parties continued, time was flying by and everyone aged, excluding the two vampires. As of now, no one had noticed the lack of wrinkles and maturing of their bodies, but it couldn´t be long until they would.

Also the proposals for marriage had become more frequent and Yazoo´s excuses became more and more incomprehensible. All of his 'friends' had already married and fathered at least one child (including Rufus Shinra, who had gotten himself a girl by the name of Elena).

So they announced one night that their next party would be the last and that they had decided to leave town. The news caused much confusion and bewilderment amongst their guests as well as many attempts to coax them to rethink their decision. The mayor even offered Vincent the profitable job as his vice, not caring that his son had already inherited this position, but the vampire politely refused.

The atmosphere of the final party was covered by a thin façade of amusement as the guests tried to get their say in to the two vampires.

Yazoo was doing his best to entertain his guests, but he was bored and in his mind already on the journey towards their new destination.

Vincent didn´t feel any less restless and though his calm and patient face did not show it, he was quite unnerved by the constant wailing and the attempts to change his mind in the last second.

He had just escorted the first guests outside and came back to sit in his seat to disinterestedly listen to the conversation his group had, when a murmur went through the crowd and caught his interest.

And to his utter horror, a man calmly strode through the hall.

But it wasn´t just any man.

This one was at least as tall as Vincent himself. He was clad in black boots and black velvet trousers. His white shirt was opened at the collar, leaving a triangle of his white, hairless chest. A long black coat was fluttering around him, making his appearance even more impressive, if his knee length silver hair and his beautiful face hadn´t already done so. He carried himself through the hall with natural elegance and grace, holding himself high and composed.

Another remarkable trade of the uninvited guest was that he had absolutely and most certainly no heartbeat.

Slowly, Vincent rose to his feet, his fingers clenched around the armrests.

Of all people…!

At last the vampire came to stand before Vincent and with a polite and small nod of his head, said in a pleasantly low voice, "It has been a while."

The ebony haired vampire didn´t fail to notice the malice in the other´s voice that occupied his tone naturally, though the rest of the group hadn´t heard it, only curiously eyeing the man.

"It has been a while indeed. I did not expect to meet you again so soon," Vincent replied slowly, his eyes frostily staring at his guest and making his silent message clear that he was less than welcome.

"Oh, me neither. But I happened to just be around, so I thought: Why not go to see an old friend?" To the knowing eye it would have been more than obvious that these two were anything but friends.

Vincent remained silent –still shocked to be confronted with his arch enemy- as suddenly a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and the alcohol-red face of the mayor appeared beside him. "Ah, Valentine, won´t you introduce your friend to us, he seems quite a fine man."

The silver haired vampire graced him with a bitter sweet smile and Vincent tightly stated

"This is Sephiroth, an old acquaintance of mine. And these are my precious guests." He lay a warning emphasize on 'precious' just so that Sephiroth knew that he would not tolerate a bloodbath here.

"I see you have surrounded yourself with extraordinary men," the vampire commented friendly, his eyes radiating biting sarcasm.

"I believe that you did not come to join my celebration, therefore I assume that we discuss whatever matter you have in mind in more private quarters," Vincent offered, his eyes briefly skimming the room for Yazoo. Fortunately he was outside in the garden and hadn´t noticed their special guest yet, and Vincent was very determined to keep it that way.

"But why, these gentlemen seem rather eager to have a conversation with me." Sephiroth gestured towards the men in their seats who had already gotten an extra chair.

"This way please," Vincent replied curtly, motioning in the opposite direction towards the stairs. Vincent expected Sephiroth to sit, but the man complied, bowing before the disappointed party apologetically and following the other vampire to his quarters.

Vincent led him towards a salon with expensive mahogany furniture and gestured for him to take a seat in one of the red- golden velvet chairs in front of the enflamed fireplace. Before he sat down in a chair opposite to his unwelcome guest, he went into the corridor again and ordered a maid that she was to leave them alone and in case that Yazoo asked about his whereabouts had to tell him that he had to stay away.

"What do you want?" Not feeling much like small talk, Vincent decided to go straight down to business and then get rid of the vampire as fast as he could.

"Why, I think I already stated my business," the other replied amusedly, but stared at the vampire opposite him with cold hatred. "Like I said, I just happened to pass this town and decided to pay a visit. Although I must say that I am quite astonished to find you in these surroundings."

He made a gesture through the room, adding with open hostility, even if his voice was still calm, "The last time I saw you, you were wailing in a dirty little cellar hole. And I must say, that suited you much better."

Vincent remained silent, not planning on letting the other get a rise out of him.

"But surrounding yourself with disgusting humans suits you quite well, too. You have always been like this, have you not? Feeling pity toward them and oh so desperately clinging to your humanity… Really, of all the people I have met, be it humans or our kind, you are still by far the most pathetic."

Vincent slowly leaned his head against his knuckles, propping his arm on the armrest and lifted an eyebrow, giving an immensely bored impression.

"As you probably already know, I am rather displeased by that development, though." Sephiroth drummed with his fingers on the armrest. "Why do you not tell me what brought about that dramatic change, so I can send you back into the world of pain and despair you belong to?" He offered a wry smile.

Just as Vincent opened his mouth to make a witty and acrid reply, the door opened and whispering footsteps approached.

"Excuse me, the mayor said that you had left with a new guest?"

Coming to stand behind his master´s chair, Yazoo tilted his head in question, sizing up the silver haired man in front of him and then voicing his utter bewilderment with narrowed eyes. "Vincent. Why does this man have no heartbeat?"

It was just fair to say that Sephiroth was at least as equally surprised to see another blood drinker in the room, his mouth hanging open slightly and his cruel eyes widening.

If it hadn´t been such a very unfortunate and dangerous situation, Vincent would have probably smirked upon the dumbfounded expression, but so he looked just as equally shocked as the other two. But being at least prepared for the possibility of an encounter he also regained his composure first.

"Yazoo, go to your coffin and wait for me there."

The younger vampire just ignored him as he continued to stare at the man, repeatedly confirming and assuring himself that he was indeed dead.

"NOW!"

Yazoo flinched at the bellowed order and hesitantly backed out of the room, head tilted in confusion but face looking perfectly blank. Vincent had meanwhile risen from his chair, saying tightly into his guest´s direction, "Our conversation ends here. I will escort you to the door now."

Sephiroth blinked, once, twice, until he finally got out of his chair too and slowly a very delighted and very cruel smile graced his lips.

"I see now," he declared portentously.

"If you so much as harm a hair on his head…" the other vampire growled threateningly, his red eyes blazing dangerously and with utter homicidal intention.

"Oh, you do me injustice, I would never even think about harming your little friend…" Sephiroth purred. "However, I see that we still have something to discuss here. I will therefore meet you tomorrow at the harbour. And do not dare to be absent, or I will seriously reconsider my decision concerning your spawn."

And with a last warning look he simply dissolved into thin air.

*

"Who was that?" The question was the first thing Vincent heard upon entering the dark, comfortable tomb outside the city where they had placed their new coffins in. Yazoo approached him, quite agitated and firing his questions at him.

"Why did he have no heartbeat? Is he like us? Why is he like us? You never told me there are others! Why did you not tell me? What did he want from you? Do you know him?"

Vincent held the pacing young man by the shoulders to still his movements and make him shut up. It wasn´t like he didn´t understand Yazoo´s agitation and confusion, frankly he was quite upset himself, but now was no time for great discussions.

"Yazoo, listen to me. It does not matter who this man is or why I know him, but yes, he is like us and he is very, very dangerous." The grave and intense tone of his master made the youth´s eyes widen.

It couldn´t be that Vincent was… afraid?

Vincent never feared anything, _he_ was the most daunting person on earth himself! Or… was he?

"Whatever happens, do not listen to him, do not believe him, do not talk to him at all! You will leave tomorrow as soon as you wake up, there is no time to waste! You have to do a night without blood if necessary. Leave everything behind and take the carriage without me, I will follow as soon as I am done here."

"But-"

"JUST DO IT!" Vincent flared up, eyes blazing again as he bared his fangs at his lover who flinched away from him, eyes even wider.

Noticing that he was seriously frightening Yazoo with his strange behaviour the vampire let out a pained groan and pulled the boy into a bone crushingly tight embrace.

"I am sorry. Please trust me and do as I say, will you?"

Still sceptical, Yazoo wrapped his arms around the other mans hips and gave a short nod.

"Thank you." The vampire pulled the other into an almost desperate kiss, then letting go and saying "It is time, get in the coffin."

As Yazoo had lain down, waiting for Vincent to close the lid, the vampire looked down at him with an unfathomable expression.

"Remember: do not waste any time and leave as soon as you wake up." He paused breifly and then added in an almost bitter tone. "I love you."

And now that made all alarm bells in the silver haired teen's head shrill full force, because if Vincent was confessing to him, the world definitely must have come to an end! Before he could react however, the lid shut close and he fell into suspense, his face a mask of black despair.

tbc

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**Valitiel:** Hahaha, Tseng and Vincent seem much more perverted than Yazoo and Rufus, since they were having these thoughts about the two of them having sex when they didn´t XD I suppose that Yazoo really let Rufus off the hook. He doesn´t directly defy Vincent, he was searching for loopholes, but now Vincent explicitely forbade it Yazoo will oblige^^

**JiLLiBeanz:** Oh yes, Interview with the Vampire is one of the best! I like the movie pretty much as well, the visuals are stunning! I hope the last chapter did only good things to you^^

**VincentV:** Owie, poor Rufus XD *hands over a nice stick* Hehehe, well Vincent probably anticipated that his death would change, once he took Yazoo in, but I doubt he reckoned with anything like this XD Maybe we´ll see Cloud again at a later point of time ;) And yes, the evil antagonist is indeed Sephiroth, good guess!

**Review please?**

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	9. Chapter 9

**Many many thanks t jsakurachan1 for the terrific betaing!**

**Enjoy^^**

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9

"Vincent!" The lid flew through the little tomb, banging from the wall and clattering to the ground.

Bolting upright into a sitting position, Yazoo frantically searched the room, but his vision was still blurry. Where was Vincent, he usually waited for him right beside his coffin…

"My my, aren´t you a feisty one…"

The silver head abruptly jerked into the direction where the unfamiliar voice was coming from.

"I see you still have quite some problems adjusting to the awakening," the voice pondered idly. "I assume you are not one of us for very long, are you? How long has it been? Five years? Six? It surely cannot have been more than ten.."

Yazoo shook his head to clear it. He was missing something here, something important…

"Where is Vincent?"

"Vincent?" The voice feigned surprise. "Well, your maker is quite a little busy, I am afraid he cannot join our conversation."

The younger vampire´s eyes narrowed dangerously at this, but the voice just chuckled, "Do not worry, he is fine. Here, let me help you."

Two gloved hands were grabbing his face, not in an ungentle manner, and stroked some hair out of the teen's eyesight.

"Beautiful. Just trust our Vincent to always find himself the pretty ones…"

Finally Yazoo´s senses recovered and he found himself confronted with the gorgeous face of Vincent´s special guest from the other night that was sizing him up with a scrutinizing look.

And then the memories crumbled down on him too. Vincent had said to leave as soon as possible and not talk to the dangerous vampire! Why was he here anyway?!

But that didn´t matter right now, he had to get out and find Vincent first, he probably was in danger and…

The man had settled down against the wall casually, Yazoo observed. From out of the corner of his eye he estimated how far it was to the exit. Four, five meters; he could make that. He´d become a lot faster recently. Vincent had said it was due to his aging that his abilities would increase. He had no idea how old the other vampire was, but it was worth a try…

As fast as lightening he was out of the coffin and almost through the door, when a body solidified out of thin air, and a hand grabbed his arm firmly.

"Now now, did your master not teach you that it is rather impolite to leave an unfinished conversation?" The man reprimanded quietly, but his eyes left no doubt that next time Yazoo tried something, he wouldn´t be as lenient.

Coldly the younger vampire glared at the hand on his arm that withdrew slowly.

"Why do you not have a seat? It is much more comfortable to have our little chat in a sitting position, I believe."

Yazoo looked at the offered coffin that was his, then back at the long haired man and eventually he went to his burial case to lean against it, since the lid was unavailable to sit on.

Pleased, the other vampire sat down on the stone stairs, effectively blocking the only entrance and exit in the process.

"Before we start, how about we introduce ourselves? I am certain Vincent did not speak very much about me, he has that ridiculous prejudice that my only enjoyment is making his life a living hell…" Sephiroth smiled politely to no one in particular and continued. "Well then, my name is Sephiroth and I have been dead for 446 years. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Yazoo´s eyes widened a fraction in disbelieve. 446 years! He didn´t look older than Vincent in natural years. If strength increased proportionally with age… This man had to be a damn force of nature! And assuming from his pulsing, red aura he had to be pumped full of blood from at least three humans. No way he could win a fight…

"Although I have to admit that I was really surprised to meet you yesterday. You see, your master once told me that he would rather let me pull out his guts than create a blood-drinker from his own body… So, naturally I am rather curious as to what kind of person you are, to have changed his determined views." Sephiroth smiled at him in an asking manner, but Yazoo only remained leaning against his coffin and eyed the other vampire icily. Vincent had said to not speak to him.

The other didn´t seem to be fazed by his silence however, only sighing as if he hadn´t expect anything else anyway, "Well, it is not crucial for you to take an active part in this 'conversation'. It'll suffice if you listen."

Upon not getting an answer, the older vampire only rose an eyebrow ever so slightly and continued in a smooth tone, "I reckon that Vincent has not told you much about the nature of our kind, has he?"

The suddenly curious flicker in the boy´s eyes told Sephiroth everything he needed to know, and he continued, inwardly smirking "And am I also right in assuming that he still clings to his one-victim-per-night-policy?"

Seeing Yazoo´s dour expression and even receiving a short nod this time, the other bloodsucker nodded to himself "Hm, I thought so."

The man looked thoughtful. "Actually it does not concern me, and I mean absolutely no offense to your Master at all, but I believe that this is rather irresponsible. I do understand that he is still grieving over that woman, but he does not have to burden you with it, does he?"

Yazoo´s eyes had narrowed suspiciously at the mentioning of 'that woman´. He did not know about any woman Vincent would be grieving about and Aeris surely couldn´t be meant, for Sephiroth couldn´t know about her.

"Ah, I see he left you quite in the dark…" the older vampire frowned, shaking his head a little, "Really, it is sometimes hard for me to comprehend his intention. The first thing I do with new apprentices is inform them about the nature of our kind and what they need to do to become more powerful."

"Hn. He did tell me anything I needed to know." Despite Vincent's order to keep his mouth shut, Yazoo felt that he had to make a point here. If there was something he did not like at all it was badmouthing his master.

"Oh really…" Sephiroth smiled still friendly at him. "Then did he tell you that your power increases with the amount of blood you take?"

Upon Yazoo´s disbelieved inclination of his pretty head, the other said, "See, that is why I said his actions are irresponsible. His policy keeps you weak and vulnerable. And obviously he is not able to stay by your side every time to keep harm away from you." Sephiroth made a short gesture with his hand through the room, emphasizing the fact that Vincent was nowhere to be found right now.

"But I assume Vincent still thinks he can save his soul and gain his god's favour again if he flagellates himself enough."

Sighing, the older observed the teen opposite him with sharp eyes. "Did you transform already?"

Yazoo looked back at him as if he was somewhat stupid and demonstratively let his canines slid over his bottom lip.

Sephiroth lifted an eyebrow. "I see you do not even know what I am talking about…"

The boy became more and more confused with every passing minute. Why had Vincent not told him about these things? And even more so as they seemed essential and important for his survival!

He hadn´t even told him that there were others like them…

Suddenly very unnerving and distressing doubts began to form in his head, making him feel quite uneasy. Yazoo had always just unconditionally trusted his master, but if he thought about it, really thought about it, he knew next to nothing about the man´s past or his ambitions.

"Well, you will find out sooner or later what I meant. After all, I do not want to spoil Vincent´s educational methods, even though I find them rather questionable. I insist on one thing, however." With that he rose from the cold stone floor and in a sophisticated manner gestured towards the entrance to motion for Yazoo to get out.

The youth eyed him blankly, then slowly pushed himself away from his coffin, following the 'invitation'. He had no idea what Sephiroth was scheming, but what he surely knew was that trying to escape was futile. Not only because the other was far beyond his own powers, but also because he had access to a knowledge Yazoo could only dream of. And the transformation thing kind of worried him…

They stepped outside the tomb into the moonless night, Sephiroth not walking far behind him.

He stopped at the entrance, making Yazoo lift an eyebrow. "So, where are we going?" He demanded to know in a languid fashion, though inwardly he had to admit that he was slightly curious.

The older send him a derisive little smile, "My dear child, we are not _going_ anywhere. Come here." He held his coat open and his cold eyes forced the teen to reluctantly come nearer, until a long arm firmly gripped his waist, and the air around them swirled as if they were moving in a circle at high speed, everything blurring before his vision.

It did not take long for the movement to stop, and as Yazoo finally had his vision back under control his eyes widened a fraction.

Because as the surroundings became clear again, they were not standing at the dark graveyard but in the dimly lit garden, he recognised to be those of Denzel´s parents house.

Baffled, he looked back at Sephiroth, who only graced him with a cryptic smile and let go of his waist. From the windows of the salon they could hear laughter and talking. Obviously there was a party going on, as the faint music indicated. Yazoo felt a chill pass through his body as he saw the flash of anticipation in the other vampire's eyes, the same flash that he had seen in a predator's just as a hunt began.

TBC

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**Valitiel:** Uhm... Sephiroth might have noticed that Yazoo looks a lot like him, but if he did he didn´t let it on yet^^ He´s a sly bastard;) Oh, and of course he´s trying to get Yazoo to the dark side with cookies!!!

**JiLLiBeanz: **Awww, thank you^^ Hm, Sephiroth is Vincent´s arch enemy, so whatever he wants with Yazoo certainly isn´t a good thing for Vincent... But we´ll see in the next chapter :)

**Review please?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the long wait, but here´s an extra long chapter for you!**

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"I assumed that you must be quite hungry now, and we should have a meal first, before we continue our discussion."

Sephiroth glanced at the closed doors towards the house longingly and was almost by the door when he looked over his shoulder, only to see Yazoo still occupying the spot where he had left him. Furrowing his brows, the vampire asked in a distanced manner "You do not have any moral reservations, have you?" Wouldn´t have actually surprised him that much, the poor boy had to live with Vincent Valentine after all.

"No," Yazoo lifted an eyebrow at the absolute ridiculousness of such assumption. "_I_ have not."

"I see." Sephiroth smiled his mysterious smile again and then added in a sweet voice. "You can tell your master that I forced you to do it by threatening your life. I don´t care, he hates me anyway."

Still a little unsure, Yazoo finally came towards the door, following the inviting hand of the other outstretched towards him.

"Now, taste the delicious blood of the innocent and drink as much as you desire. There are no restrictions with me." With that, Sephiroth let a servant, that had hurried towards them, invite them in and lead them to the salon. He pushed open the wooden door and the light and the music and the laughter and the overwhelming scent of warm, pulsing blood engulfed them.

Several heads turned towards their direction as they slowly stepped in, Yazoo looking somewhat mesmerized and lost as he smelled the full air with half lidded eyes and a faint smile.

"Yazoo, what are you doing here, I thought you and your master were already gone!" The surprised landlord stood from his seat, but did look rather pleased to see the youth in his house.

"Well,there had been some alterations in their plans," Sephiroth offered friendly, his hand on the youth´s back as he lead him into the room.

"Oh, I´m really glad to hear that! Here, why don´t you have a seat?" He eagerly gestured towards two chairs that had been brought instantly, but Sephiroth just shook his head, scanning the curious crowd. Mostly elderly people, but it would do. He noticed the lack of cruxifixes and other charms, but he could not know that the custom the two vampires had established for their own parties had become quite common amongst the aristocrats own proms too. Well, it didn´t matter to him anyway. Whatever the reason, he certainly wouldn´t complain.

The pairs that had been dancing in the wide, rich hall stopped, and suddenly a gasp was heared, as an older woman with a white, elaborate wig pressed her hand against her mouth, pointing at them.

"L-look, Master Yazoo has no reflection!"

Disinterested, the young man in question followed her finger, just to notice that he was standing right beside a gold framed guests started to murmur and whisper to each other, but the landlord held up his hands to calm them down and then turned towards the newly arrived guests, frowning.

"Master Yazoo, what does this mean? Is this some magical trick of yours, maybe?"

The two vampires exchanged a short look and Sephiroth , feeling the thirst raging in his veins, had enough of the small talk and smirked at the man. "Yes, a trick. And let me show you another one, too."

With that he grabbed for the astonished man´s neck and burried his fangs deep inside his throat, eyes rolling back in his head as the sweet taste of hot blood filled his mouth. The crowd looked at them rather interested, impressed by Yazoo´s 'trick', and eager to know what he would do now.

Their curiosity quickly changed into shock though, as a few minutes later the landlord slipped from the youth´s grip and landed on the floor. Dead and with glassy eyes the landlord stared at the crowd, while the young vampire licked over his bloody lips and elongated canines in delight and absolute bliss.

A panic broke out.

The women were screaming in horror, while the men tried to get their hands on the impertinent child. It was in vain however, as the two vampires in pure bloodlust started to attack and within mere minutes the ground was littered with corpses.

Sephiroth eventually had enough, since he already had had a meal this evening and threw the corpse of an older man aside carelessly. With a satisfied smile he took a seat in one of the now empty, golden chairs, pushing aside another body with his foot. With interest he followed the other vampire with his eyes as he repeatedly sunk his teeth into soft flesh, sucking and drinking.

He had looked so very starved, it was no wonder he drank like a maniac. In his rush, he sometimes ripped a throat apart and, growling, drank from the fountain that came out of the stertorous humans. It would have been a rather ugly and pathetic sight, if Yazoo hadn´t killed with that, albeit feral, natural grace of his, sensually creeping towards his screaming victims and licking over his pouty lips with hazy, greedy eyes.

Eventually there was no one left and even so, Yazoo wouldn´t have been able to consume one more single drop. He hadn´t known. He hadn´t know that it would make such a huge difference. Compared to the orgasmic sensation that was shaking his entire being now, his former meals had been but a drop in the ocean, not even stirring the surface of what was lying underneath!

"Do you feel it?" The voice of the other purred next to his ear as Sephiroth had come to crouch down next to the kneeling teen. "The power? The satisfaction?"

A tongue slipped out, lazily licking over the young man´s parted lips and the blood on them, before sliding into the moist cavern of his mouth entirely, tasting the sweet, metallic liquid that was staining his tongue.

A sound from the entrance hall made Sephiroth withdrew from the bloody kiss however, as Denzel and his wife arrived to join their parents´ party. Displeased, the vampire threw his black coat around his enemies´s pupil, but couldn´t deny himself to see the two young humans shocked faces as they stepped into the bloody, corpse crowded dance hall and seeing the two silver haired men with their long fangs disappearing into thin air.

*

After they were back at the tomb, Yazoo leaned against his coffin in a sitting position, eyes still dazed.

Sephiroth crouched down before him with a satisfied, scheming smile, holding the vampire´s chin in one hand to make him look up into his own face, while tracing with his thumb over full lips. With an enticing, whispered purr into the others ear, he finally revealed his true intention.

"That was good, was it not? You can have that every night, you know? As much as you want it, whenever you want it. No ridiculous, pointless restrictions anymore. If you come with me, you shall never experience hunger ever again."

His soft lips brushed over the teens sensitive ear, making him shudder a little as he tilted his head to the side in an attempt to scurry away from the tickling sensation.

"I will teach you everything I know, everything you need to become powerful and be able to defend yourself on your own. I will give you power, blood and neverending pleasure. Beside me you will rule over the wretched race that are mortals."

Yazoo´s hazy eyes shifted towards the other´s face, that had come close to his own now and graced him with an inviting smile.

"What do you say?"

"Hn," the boy made, looking to the side again and then smoothly replying "I have to admit that your offer sounds rather tempting."

The smile grew a little larger and almost triumphant.

"But I´m afraid I have to decline it, though."

"And why is that," Sephiroth inquired after a pause, the smile vanishing in favor of a cold look. "You honestly want to stay with a man that keeps you guessing about the true potential of your abilities, denying you power for his own selfish purposes?"

"Yes," Yazoo smirked, sensing the other vampire´s upcoming anger.. "I do not wish for power as badly as you may think. Actually, I´m quite satisfied with simply being by his side. I have no ambitions to rule or leave him whatsoever. It may be true that Vincent does not tell me much, but I assume that he has good reasons for it."

"Well, you are much more of a fool than I thought. Valentine´s attitude must have rubbed of on you quite a bit. It´s a pity though, you have great potential," Sephiroth answered coldly, holding the boy´s face in a now iron grip, as his frosty gaze seized him up.

An indifferent "Hn," was the only reply he got. Letting go of the other vampire´s chin, the older man rose to his feet again.

"Well, it can´t be helped then. Shall you ever change your mind, however, I will receive you with open arms. Think about it." And with a last cold glance over his shoulders he was gone.

*

Vincent leaned against a cold stonewall at the foggy peers, breathing heavily and scanning the surroundings for his enemies with blazing eyes.. He should have know that Sephiroth would try something outrageous again. The trap had been so obvious, but his concerns for their well being had clouded his reasoning too much as that he could have refused the man´s offer to meet at the harbor. Upon arriving at the empty peers he´d instantly been attacked by Sephiroth´s spawn.

It wouldn´t have been such a big problem, they were weak, 50 years old at most. But they had been many, attacking him from all sides, not leaving any opening for him to escape and he had had no other choice but to fight them head on. That they were immortal and almost all of them still children had complicated the situation even further. The bastard had anticipated that he would have qualms to try to kill mere children and confided in that.

Well, Sephiroth had underestimated his will to save both him and his pupil and so the sea was soon bloody and filled with various torn limbs. Although Vincent did not kill them, he injured them severly enough to make them unable to fight, not wanting to waste his energy on the small fry. As it seemed, the attacks had ceased, and pushing himself from the wall, Vincent finally found the time to concentrate and leave the harbour, appearing in his tomb only seconds after he had vanished from the stormy sea.

Worriedly, he turned around in the dark crypt, preparing for his fight with Sephiroth, but there was no sign of the man whatsoever. Only Yazoo was lying heavily against his coffin, looking groggy, but fortunately unharmed.

With narrowed eyes Vincent had to notice that he looked indeed rather satisfied and pleased, and the great amount of blood running through his body made the vampire think that he wasn´t sure if he wanted to know what had happened.

"Yazoo?" He shook his lover´s shoulder a little forcefully and blissful eyes shifted towards him.

"Hm?" Upon seeing his master, apparently safe and sound, the youth´s face brightened even more. "Vincent! You´re back…" His eyes clouded again, the blood still holding him in its mesmerizing grip.

"What happened here?" Shaking his head, the vampire crouched down, helping his student up from the ground.  
"Forget about that now, we will leave to a safe place first."

Wrapping one arm around Yazoo´s waist, he led him out of the tomb with a grim expression and after sending him in a deep slumber, spread his wings to finally make it to one of his hideouts.

*

"I see."

Vincent tiredly rubbed his temple, sitting in his seat at the large dinner table of their new estate. In a few sentences Yazoo had summed up to him about his encounter with Sephiroth the previous night.

A warm fire was crackling in the open chimney, providing the only light and casting the room in dark shadows. Outside a snowstorm was howling and angrily blowing around the old castle. Yazoo was sitting at the other end of the table in a similar armchair, legs crossed and idly looking into the flames.

"So his intention was to abet you and then take you away from me…" Vincent shook his head bitterly. "This is just like him."

Yazoo remained silent, his eyes moving over to his distraught mentor.

"Well, I am glad that you saw through his scheming and refused his offer," the red cloaked vampire said in a friendly manner, looking up to his lover, who just nodded and focused his attention on the carpet.

"Is something wrong?" Furrowing his brows, Vincent gave the other a scrutinizing look. Yazoo had been strange all night, unceremoniously sucked out the human Vincent had brought him and being even more taciturn than usual.

"Is there something bothering you?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously as Yazoo shirked from his look again, pretending to watch the flames, and quietly saying "Hn. There is something that made me think. Albeit his intentions might be questionable, some of the things Sephiroth said... made some sense, though."

"I see," the other said calmly. "Then, will you tell me what bothers you please? Do not hesitate to share your concerns with me, I will not become angry or think bad of you."

Yazoo shot his partner a doubtful look that was answered with a warm one.

"You have my word. If you keep it to yourself, he will achieve his goal at least partially and drive you away from me. I do not wish for that, Yazoo, I already told you, did I not?"

Hesitantly the silver haired young man nodded, remembering two nights ago and Vincent´s extraordinary farewell.

"Come here and tell me."

Rising from his seat the vampire strode towards the other and was pulled into his lap. Leaning his head on Vincent´s shoulder, Yazoo still looked into the flames, figuring out what it was exactly he wanted to say, until he finally opened his mouth. "You know I trust you. I do not think that any of your decisions are meant to harm me, even though I do not comprehend them. But I am wondering why you hide crucial information from me."

"Such as?" the vampire asked gently, observing his lovers expressionless face.

"Why did you not tell me that there are others like us?"

"Well…" the other squirmed "You never asked."

After a strange look from his student he added, looking a little guilty "They are wretched creatures I did not wish you to know about, as you have clearly experienced yourself now."

"Why? So that they would not tell me things about us that were inconvenient for you?"

"No," the vampire sighed, tightening his embrace to calm his upset pupil. "Now tell me, what did he tell you?"

"That larger amounts of blood make us stronger,"came the pouty reply.

"I see," Vincent said quietly, thinking about his answer for quite a while. "I have to admit that the consumption of more blood will lead to increased physical strenght."

Upon seeing the sourly lifted eyebrow of his lover, he continued, taking Yazoo´s hand between his own gloved fingers "However, my reason for restricting your intake of blood does not result from ill will. Although more blood might make you stronger, it also will make you feral. The physical power will be attained for the price of the ability of self control and restrain. Those who give in to their urges are nothing more than animals, only driven by their primal instincts, and in the end they are even weaker than we, because they are slaves to their own thirst."

"Sephiroth didn´t seem much of a weakling to me, both physical and mental." Yazoo countered, sounding sarcastic, but also a little appeased.

"Do not be deceived by his sophisticated and controlled appearance, Yazoo. He might seem superior and powerful but inside he has been driven insane by rage and a blinding lust for revenge. In the end, he is quite a pitiful creature." The vampire sighed, stroking over the back of Yazoo´s hand, and inquiring "Is there something else?"

"Yes. He spoke of some kind of transformation I should do and he did not mean my change into a blood drinker."

Vincent nodded, reluctantly, and asked carefully. "What did he tell you about it?"

"Nothing," Yazoo replied, making a dismissive gesture with his hand "Only that I would find out sooner or later myself."

"Hm. I am inclined to agree with him for once," the vampire tried, but after the frosty glare he received, he sighed. "It is nothing that can be explained, it is something that must be experienced. But I can tell you at least this much: It is not a pleasant act, even though you will achieve the ability to fly. It also cannot be trained. If you are ready for it, it will show itself." Vincent did not like the interested flicker in his lovers eyes. One thing that had detered him from ever creating an offspring had been the transformation…

They remained silent in their chair for a while, listening to the fire and the storm outside, heads leaned against another and just enjoying the quiet.

Vincent had decided that they would change their plans and go underground for a while, until things had calmed down a little. He assumed that one reason Sephiroth had found him, was of course that he had sauntered in puplic openly. And he didn´t need another visit from the man. Nor did Yazoo, decidedly.

"There is just another thing," Yazoo spoke up again, shifting a little.

"Go ahead please."

"Sephiroth... He spoke of some woman you were bemoaning."

The vampire underneath him stiffened considerably, his fingers stopping to stroke over Yazoo´s hand.

"What did he mean by that?" There was no answer, and the young man lifted his head a little to glance at his mentors expression with suspicious eyes. "Vincent?"

The vampire crept deeper into his collar, looking very uneasy and indeed pained. But finally he tilted his head a little, watching their intertwined fingers and said calmly. "Yes, he is right. There once had been a woman I dedicated my heart to."

The youth´s eyes flared dangerously, but before he could say something, the other continued.

"But she is gone for a long time now, Sephiroth made sure of that.." His lips pressed into a thin, bitter line, as his fingers clenched painfully around Yazoo´s hand for a moment.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Yazoo asked, inwardly making a mental note that he had to give the man a good handshake for killing that bitch next time they met.

Vincent pressed his lips together even tighter, looking into the fire and for a moment it seemed as if he would just refuse to answer the question.

"I killed his mother and maker."

Yazoo´s eyes widened. _Vincent_ had done such a thing? He, who avoided killing as much as he could?

"But why?"

"She was a bloodlusty, wretched being that killed only for the pleasure of it. I could not tolerate such actions."  
Oh well. Now that seemed more like Vincent.

"However it drove her son mad, and since that time his only goal is to make my time as miserable as he can to take his revenge. That is why he tried to take you away from me. He knows that I could not bear it again."

"I will go nowhere," Yazoo informed his lover matter-of-factly, cuddling a little tighter.

"I know," the vampire returned, pressing his lips against the dead teenagers hand.

The vampire lifted an eyebrow, haughtily asking "Oh? And what makes you so certain about that?"

"Because," Vincent smiled wryly, though it was full of warmth "the only thing that surpasses my obsession with you, is your devotion to me."

Yazoo looked ready to counter something sarcastic, but then closed his mouth and just shrugged. There was no arguing with the facts, was there. Instead he asked another question that preyed his mind.

"Why did you not tell me anything of that earlier? I know next to nothing about your past."

"Does my past really matter that much?" the vampire quietly asked back.

"Well yes it does, especially when some maniac suddenly pops up at our door and tries to turn things upside down," the other countered sardonically.

"...I can assure you that such a thing will not happen ever again," Vincent murmured behind his collar.

"Hn." Yazoo did not look appeased at all.

"Please understand," Vincent sighed, rubbing his temple again, as he propped his head on his free hand. "I do not wish to hide anything from you. I just believe that my past does not matter to the current time. I admit that the encounter with Sephiroth was unfortunate but such a thing will not happen again. And if you might remember the night after they burned us out, we agreed to start over again, leaving the past behind. Can you not grant me that redemption?"

Defeated, the other sighed. How could he not, if Vincent was practically begging him?! "So. I am the only one you´re loving now?" he asked with a lifted brow. Just to be sure here. This was all a bit confusing.

"Yes," the other vampire admitted after a moment of silence.

"Well it´s good to know that the feeling is mutual," Yazoo observed in that impassible manner of his, picking a lint from his trousers with pointy fingers and then adding, for he thought that he could maybe use the opportunity of the moment, spotting his most charming smile "May I request, though, that we switch from one victim to two per night?"

"Of course," the cloaked vampire said, lifting an eyebrow, "as soon as you have learned to split your thirst on two victims. The amount of blood taken will remain the same of course."

"Hn." Shaking his head, the younger smirked behind his hair. Some things just wouldn´t change.

TBC

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**Valitiel:** Hahaha, yes, Sephiroth is evil incarnated, he´ll really try everything to get Yazoo away from Vincent and make him miserable... But Yazoo is a good boy, he luffs his Vinny;)

**JiLLiBeanz:** Good question... Teleporting sounds a bit strange, so I guess it is mist travelling then XD Or maybe he flew so fast that Yazoo didn´t even notice it? Hm... I´ll think about it some more^^

**VincentV:** Ahaha, yes, Vincent was a bit eh... fretful XD I missed him too :( I don´t think there´s ever a chapter after that again where Vincent doesn´t show up^^ And yes, the dangerous thing about Sephy is that he´s right, in a way...

**Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!^^**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey there again^^ Next chapter, this time with a very special guest. I hope you enjoy it!**

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11

Vincent climbed up the stairs with his nose stuck in an old book he had just taken from their growing library. They had settled in well, enjoying the uneventfull and quiet nights together after their rather loud and stressing parties before. They had decided that this time they would stay away from the town, just going there for hunts or necessary supplies. They were all alone in their castle, even refraing from having any servants or maids. They didn´t need much anyway, and the dust was swept away within seconds whenever they felt like it. A big kettle with hot water was always sitting over a fire that was constantly fueled by a simple mechanism Yazoo had thought up in one of his more bored moods, so there was always enough water for baths and their victims.

As Vincent had suggested, they also refrained from renting a house in the town and instead just took the mortals home with them. There was a huge dungeon they could drop the dead bodies into. As for the food for their 'guests', they had stored several wine barrels in the cellar as well as bread and some durable dishes they would replenish every second week.

Really, it had been two very peaceful months both of them needed.

Vincent had caught his lover a few times with a concentrated look on his face, apparently trying to force the transformation act to his will, but after a few times he had just given up, shrugging indifferently.

The rest of the nights had been spent in the library reading and discussing, or lying on the balcony of the bedroom, where Vincent taught the other all about astronomics and constellations he knew, their figures looking up into the crystalclear nigtsky and spilled silver and ebony hair intertwining. Sometimes they would just stay in bed for a whole night, exploring what their bodies were capable of and finding that it was quite a bit that was worthwhile being studied very intensily. On occasions they would relocate their sessions to the bath tub and once in a while they just spontaniously made out where they happened to be that very moment.

Vincent strode down the corridor on steady feet, finding his way without wavering, even though to the human eye it was pitch black in the hallway. But the vampire didn´t even have to look up from his book to find his way to the salon. Yazoo should have come back from his hunt by now and be done with everything, so it was about time that they could settle down before the fireplace and continue their discussion about their new precious book, 'Theogony' by the greek poet Hesiod.

Their positions had diverged over the tale of Promtheus, the god that had opposed the godfather Zeus and brought fire to the mortals.

Vincent was convinced that Prometheus´ betrayal had let him to be abandoned and punished and that he was a wretched being who had failed his god and deserved the punishment he had gotten. Yazoo on the other hand took the view that this was very questionable since later versions of the story, especially Echitod´s, prooved that Prometheus had become a hero and only did what he thought was necessary and that morals could change quite a bit, depending on the circumstances.

However, dawn had come before they had been able to discuss the entire matter and Vincent had taken the time to research and strenghten his arguments.

As he opened the doors to the salon, he had to notice that Yazoo wasn´t done with his victim yet and he let his hand that held the book sink down upon the strange sight that greeted him.

His lover was sitting in his chair at the end of the table, looking impatient and boredly drumming with his hands on the armrest. Opposite him sat an exotic looking girl with short black hair, a cloth wrapped around her forehead and dark almond eyes. The vampire reckoned her to be around 14 to 15 winters old, maybe less. She obviously was a foreigner, which her heavily accented talking confirmed.

And boy was she talking!

Vincent didn´t even understand half the things she said, because she was stuffing herself with the prepared meal at the same time, but she did so very agitatedly, occasionally waving with her chicken wing and energetically pointing it at Yazoo.

Her youthful face was glistening with fat and crumbs sticking to it, as she took a big sip from the cup of water before her and instantly blabbered again as soon as she had gulped it down.

But what confused the vampire most was that he could absolutely detect no malice coming from here. There was mischief radiating from her feisty form, but otherwise he could not see what would justify her being here.

Clearing his throat to announce his presence, Vincent threw his student a meaningful look as the teen´s eyes shifted towards him. "Good evening. I am very sorry to interrupt you, but could I just borrow your attention for a minute?"

The girl stopped eating and talking for a second, looking at him disinterestedly, then shrugged and concentrated back on her meal, mumbling something to herself in a foreign language.

Yazoo seemed quite eager to get away from her presence and joined his master to the shadowed corner he had occupied, saying "I´m sorry, it is a bit demanding. I will get this done with right now."

"Wait," the other ordered, leaning his arm against a shelf and pinching the bridge of his nose. The constant noise she was making caused him a headache, but he inquired about Yazoo´s reasoning for taking her here nonetheless. Being annoying had never been a criteria for becoming their victim and Yazoo knew this very well.

"Why did you bring her here? She obviously is not of ill nature."

"Oh?" Yazoo made, folding his arms over his chest and declaring "I am sorry to correct you here, but it is apparently of the worst scum that has ever walked the earth. I can assure you that it is far beyond redemption and that we would do mankind a favor if we got rid of it."

"Really," the other vampire said, sounding not very convinced and sparing her another glance. "And what makes you think so?"

"Well," Yazoo suddenly looked very dark "the wretched little thing picked my pocket as I was just searching for a suitable victim."

Vincent stared blankly at him for a few seconds, before he announced "I am… sorry to hear that, but this is no reason to drink her blood."

Yazoo gave him an even darker look. "So, what do you suggest I am doing then? It already cleared half of our stocks. And I am really thirsty now." His pissed attitude also indicated that he was more than ready to shut her annoying little trap just for good measure.

Vincent just shook his head, though. "I am sorry but you will erase her memory and bring her back at once. It is your own fault for letting your judgement be clouded by personal grudges."

Yazoo sent the girl a withering glare, as his eyes widened a fraction. "Well," he slowly said "I think that won´t be necessary any longer, given that it has already decided to leave on its own."

A red gaze snapped towards the empty table and a shared groan emitted from the two vampires.

*

Yuffie was bouncing through the dark halls, chewing at her chicken bone she had taken with her and opening one door after the other to see if it inheritted something of value. Really, people in this country were just so dumb! No one in his right mind would take a complete stranger to their fancy homes, even less so after they had caught her picking their pockets!

Though she had to admit that the silver haired youth had been quite perceptive, she usually didn´t get caught…

But he had been too tempting, sauntering through the dark and narrow alleys with this arrogant and snot-nosed attitude of his, as if nothing could harm or touch him at all.

When Yuffie had noticed him, her fingers had instantly twitched and she had run past him, colliding with his slim figure and mumbling a short excuse. Then she had vanished into the next side alley with his heavy, gold coined bag.

Snickering, she had run through the labyrinth of crumbled houses and narrow streets until she was certain that he could not have followed her. Sitting down in the mud and running her dirty fingers through the rattling coins, she had snickered and thought that she would be finally able to hire a ship that would bring her back home.

But the next moment, the smug giggling had been stuck in her throat, as a firm hand grabbed her wrist and heaved her up, so that she had to let go of the soft brown leather bag and the coins had rolled into the mud.

She had sheepishly laughed and scratched her head, only trying to buy time so that she could escape his wrath. It had turned out however, and much to Yuffies surprise, that he did not intend to hand her over to the authorities at all, instead telling her that he could understand her decision very well and that he had pity with her and would invite her to a decent meal.

Inwardly Yuffie had snorted at his haughtyness, but outwardly she had flashed him a grateful smile and eagerly followed him to his carriage, that had waited outside the town. Now that had made her a little wary but then she had just shrugged off. He didn´t look like much of a big deal with his effimate features and the long hair and all, so she was certain she could handle him if he tried anything funny.

But he hadn´t, not really. Well, the whole bathing thing had struck her a little odd, but then on the other hand it hadn´t. People in her homecountry were very serious about cleaning and keeping themself tidy. Coming to this country had been a shock to her, to say the least.

Not only did the people relieve themselves where they stood, they were absolutely disgusting and often ill. No one cared for hygienics and the thing that had shocked her most was that even little children were drinking beer as soon as they ceased sucking from their mothers breasts, because it was healthier than the soiled, pissy water.

Huffing, she peeked into another room. As soon as she had gathered enough things here she would make a run for the next harbour and go back home. This here really didn´t suit a princess… Though this castle was another thing altogether, if she thought about it.

Okay, it was dark and she didn´t really see anything, but at least it was clean and the rich carpets and heavy velvet curtains impressed her quite a bit. Also most of the things here were made from gold and expensive wood.

She weigthened a golden candlebearer in her little hand, giving it a scrutinizing look and then shrugged and put it back on the nightstand. Too heavy and bulky.

"Are you done inspecting my estate now?"

The sudden, deep voice behind her made Yuffi jump a little as she swirled around on her heels.

Wiping of the dust from her cloths, she laughed sheepishly again, frowning that she hadn´heared him approach. The man was standing by the door, holding a litted candle bearer and calmly observing her.

"Just take little look around," she waved her arms beside her body in a restless manner and wipped on her heels back and forth.

"Well, if you are done now, I would like to escort you back. It is late and your family must miss you by now."

A shadow flickered over the girl´s face biefly as she licked her lips. She hadn´t found much of value yet, at least not enough to ensure her journey back to her… family.

"Yeah, uh they miss really." She looked around the room again and then back at the ebony haired man. He looked a lot nicer than the other, she had to admit. Calm and mysterious. Understanding.

"Well then, little Miss-"

"Yuffie!" she beamed at him, giving an enthusiasic, deep bow and shooting back up.

"What you name is?"

The man seemed to contemplate if he should answer, but then he simply said "Vincent Valentine" and stepped to the side, gesturing with a hand for her to go ahead.

Together they walked down the corridor, Vincent in a calm and composed manner, while Yuffie was bouncing beside him with her hands held behind her back (where she was still clinging to her chicken bone), expectantly looking at him and talking to him in one gush.

"You nice, Yuffie like. Food great, you made? Like you house, is big and clean! You rich?"

He didn´t answer even one of her questions, just walked beside her. She huffed and drew her crumped mouth into a pout. "You not hear me or so? That not nice, ignoring guest!"

"I heard you very well," the vampire said, his headache increasing. "The answer is no and yes."

Yuffie looked a little troubled by that but after a minute of intense thinking her face lightened up again. "Ah…Sorry, you still nice. So you rich and all. Give Yuffie money?"

His steps faltered a little at that and he shot her a peculiar look, asking "Why should I do that?"

"You say you bring home Yuffie, but Yuffie´s family be far far away. Go back very expensive."

She looked at him smugly, demandingly folding her arms over her chest.

The vampire shook his head a little, more to himself. "I am afraid this is a misunderstanding then. I will escort you back to wherever you are residing right now. This way please."

With his gloved hand Vincent gestured towards another corridor, but Yuffie didn´t even think about making another step, accusingly pointing a finger at him and declaring in a loud, heated voice "You lie then! You say you bring Yuffie back! You promise!"

"I did not promise you anything," the cloaked man corrected her.

"You lie!" she persisted, almost poking her angry finger into his chest.

"Well, if you want to think so," Vincent replied, unfazed.

She opened her mouth to shout something indignant, then closed it and finally settled with an angry "You not nice!!!"

"After we have established that fact, may I ask you to kindly follow me to the carriage?"

The girl stomped her foot down on the ground, turning her head away from him and declaring "Yuffie not going back."

"I beg your pardon?" Startled, the vampire looked at the sulking foreigner.

"Yuffie not go back! City is dirty and people ill and want Yuffie to do disgusting things to old dirty men but Yuffie clever, Yuffie escape and now bad men search for Yuffie and kill her."

The vampire blinked at her once, twice, before slowly saying "Well, this is quite unfortunate forYuffi-" he shook his head in exasperation, correcting himself "for you, but I am afraid there is nothing I can-"

"Please do bring Yuffie not back!!!" She suddenly clang to his coat, looking at him with big, pleading eyes and tears rolling down her cheek. Vincent made a step back in surprise. "Yuffie work here, you give Yuffie money, Yuffie can go home! Please?"

She had let go of his coat and fell to her knees, bowing on the carpet. "Please!"

Vincent felt very uneasy, trying to make her get up by gently taking her by the arm, but she just shook him off, clinging to her bowing position on the carpet. "Please!"

TBC

* * *

**Valitiel:** Hahaha, yes Vincent loves his Yazoo, and Yazoo does love his stubborn Vinny *melts* ;) Sephiroth has no chance against the power of love, hah! Take that, evil villain! ... But I´m afraid he isn´t done yet...

**JiLLiBeanz:** Awww, poor deranged little Sephy *hugs him tightly* I bet he just had a bad childhood and is searching for love~ Or maybe not ^__^

**VincentV:** *dramatic, fangirlish sigh* Oh yes, they´re sooo in luff^^ But bad things are coming to test the strenght of their feelings *nodnod*

**Thanks for reviewing and reading gals, you keep me posting! *kisses and cookies***


	12. Chapter 12

12

"And, did you get rid of it?" Yazoo closed the door to the salon behind him, undressing his gloves and looking a lot better tempered now that he had eaten. He had taken his meal directly outside the town this time, since there was no time for ceremonies anymore.

He threw them on the table, striding over to where Vincent looked thoughtfully at the fire, his back facing into the room. Two hands slid around his waist and a chin was propped onto his shoulder as the younger one asked "What is wrong?"

"…Did you know that the pest is rampaging in town right now?"

"Yes. And? It does not affect us, so I do not see why you are so concern- Oh no."

The arms were withdrawn and instead hung stiffly by the silver haired vampire´s side, as he noticed where this was going. "It will most definitely not stay here."

Vincent had turned away from the fire, saying in a smooth and appeasing voice "It will only be for one night. Tomorrow I will find out where she came from, I assume that Yuffie has fallen victim to slave traders. Since she escaped them, her life his heavily endangered."

"So?" The other tilted his head, not giving a damn what the destiny of 'Yuffie' had been.

"I will sent her back home safely." Vincent looked at his lover for understanding, but also with a determination that made clear that his mind was settled.

"I can´t believe this," Yazoo snorted, sitting down in his chair with crossed legs and a displeased expression. "So, where is it now?"

Vincent furrowed his brows a little. Yazoo´s nasty habit of calling mortals ´it´ did not sit well with him, but most of the time he just overlooked it. "I left her in one of the bedrooms. She is asleep."

Yazoo just moved his head a little.

"If it isn´t gone by tomorrows end of the night, I will drag it back into the pest quarters myself," he announced coldly and grabbed for his book then to indicate that he was no longer interested in the whole matter at all.

+

"Uh-uh…"

Groggily, Yuffie held a hand to her forehead, drowsily coming back to the surface of reality.

She was warm and it was cozy and there were no hard stones sticking in her back and it wasn´t smelling of piss and garbage… She couldn´t be home already, could she?

As soon as she bolted into an upright position she had to notice that, no, she wasn´t. Instead she lay in a four poster bed with many cushions, wearing a too large nightgown. The room was lit by candles, and beside her bed sat a silver haired figure on a black velvet chair, reading a book and treating her with ignorance.

Her face distorted into a mask of hostility and disrespect. Not this guy… Remembering her good manners though, she summoned a sweet smile to her face and cheerfully blurted out "Good morning to you!"

The man just flicked a page and informed her curtly "Don´t waste your breath. You might have fooled Vincent, but you won´t deceive me."

Huffing, and secretly making faces at him, Yuffie kneaded the sleeves of her shirt in a restless manner."Where Vincent is? Ah, do bother not, I go search!" Really, she´d do anything to get away from his obnoxious presence.

"Stay put. Master Valentine, as you will call him if you must at all, has gone to search for a ship that will take you hopefully soon very far away. Meanwhile you will stay where you are and not even do so much as move your little finger if you value your life."

"Hate you." She declared, huffily folding her arms over her chest and glaring daggers at him.

He didn´t even deign to comment on that, only turning another page.

Bored, Yuffie had a look through the room -anything but to look at him-, but it was rather boring in here.

"You ugly."

"Excuse me?" The vampire had looked up from the book, blankly staring in her direction.

With a triumphant grin, the girl repeated, emphasizing every word. "You. Ugly."

It didn´t bring the expected effect though. Instead of being utterly insulted and sore, Yazoo lifted one single eyebrow, saying coldly. "What kind of insult is that? We both know it´s not true."

Now it was at her to stare back at him blankly, his arrogance utterly disturbing her.

"You look like girl," she tried again to get a rise out of him, looking smug.

"And I would say you are putting yourself at a disadvantage here, if you assume that there is a significant relationship between being female and being ugly," he countered unfazed, eyes back on the book and adding "Though maybe not. You are so ugly one cannot even tell your gender."

"I´m princess!" she yelled at him, face red with indignance and rage. How dare he call her ugly, that… woman!!!!

"I am sorry for your country," he offered, smirking with satisfaction for so long as it took her to throw a cushion full force into his damn girly face.

Slowly, very slowly the cushion slid down his expressionless face and landed in his lap with an innocent 'thud'.

"HAH!!! That what you get when insult great ninja Yuffie!" She reached out her fist in victory, smirking at him in that annoying manner of hers.

Yazoo did not care about her being a ninja, whatever that was. He also did not care about her being a princess or whatever. At that point he did not even care about Vincent´s orders any longer.

Taking a calm breath, the vampire laid his book on the nightstand and very quietly announced "You are dead."

Yuffi looked a little wary now, but had already equiped herself with more cushions and grinned at him aggressively. Heh, she would give him the bashing of his life for saying such mean, untrue things about her!

He was beside her in an instant, a lot faster than she had anticipated, but her yearlong training as a ninja had honed her skill enough to catch up with him, at least for the first five minutes. Then it became a little troublesome and eventually he was sitting in her lap, pining her wrists against the sheet and smirking at her. Before he could bare his fangs and suck her hot tempered blood however, a voice from the door asked quite sceptically

"May I ask what is going on here?"

Relieved, Yuffi´s head shot around and she loudly announced "He rape me because he ugly and not get women!"

Yazoo almost instantly opened his mouth to growl that he wouldn´t touch her in that way even if she was the last living thing on earth, but then he remembered that that would have made him look even worse, given the explicite no-killing-order by his master.

So instead he just pinched her wrist and threw her a threatening look, which she blatantly ignored, and got off of her. Waving with a cushion, he innocently smiled at the cloaked vampire. "Just a little cushion fight."

"…I see," Vincent said slowly. "Now come with me Miss Yuffie. I have new clothing for you and your former employers were so kind as to provide me with the information I needed. A ship is waiting for you and it will leave in two hours, so there is no time to waste."

With a last sticking out of her tongue, Yuffie took Vincent´s offered hand and left the room in triumph.

+

Two nights later they were sitting in front of the warm fireplace again, one of the many storms shaking the castle.

Vincent was reading a book while Yazoo had decided to copy one with his inhumanly fast writing. Since the incident with Cloud he believed that it could not hurt to have a few copies of their more rare exemplares and with his speed he could transcribe one book each night…

"I have to say something." Shutting his book close, the vampire laid it aside and put his fingertips together.

Yazoo looked up from the pages and stopped his writing, lying the feather to the side as well and tilting his head. Judging from the other´s grave and almost solemn behaviour, it had to be something rather important.

"I have been thinking about it for the last two nights now and I finally came to a conclusion," the vampire intoned, looking very serious. "I have to admit that it failed to cross my mind until recently, but on the other hand it is only natural, so I decided to hold no grudge against you if you ever feel the need to experience more intimate matters with the female sex, as long as it is no forced encounter."

"…What?" If Yazoo hadn´t already taken his pen out of hand, it would have surely clattered to the ground now.

"I understand that you are curious about certain things and I will not hinder you to-"

"Just stop." The younger vampire had closed his eyes and held his hands up defiantly.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of." Vincent assured quietly, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I do not know what lead you to your… conclusions, but rest assured that I have no interest in women whatsoever. At all." Yazoo let a very intense look follow, to underline the statement. Honestly, even the thought made him sick.

"You do not have to take considerations for my feelings, I told you that-"

"Please," Yazoo interrupted him in exasperation, "can we just please… not talk about such things, it makes me seriously uncomfortable."

Vincent crept deeper into his collar, looking positively smitten himself.

"I just thought you should know."

"Yes. I know now, thank you."

They remained silent for a while, Yazoo scribbling on his papers again, while Vincent effectively hid behind his book, until the younger stopped again, looking up.

"What did you mean by 'you understand'?"

"Mh?"

"You said that you actually would understand if I felt attracted to women once in a while."

"And?" Vincent asked with an eyebrow lifted in confusion.

"Do I have to assume then that you feel attracted to women once in a while yourself?" The teens eyes had suspiciously narrowed as he observed his makers every expression.

"… No. I did not intend to suggest that at all."

"Good," Yazoo said, somewhat coldly and continued his writings. "Because unlike you, I will tolerate no such actions at all. Just for the record."

Lifting an eyebrow, the other vampire smiled behind his collar and went back to reading his text.

TBC

* * *

**AlexJ69:** Kewl^^ I had much fun writing this chapter too, Yuffie was rather refreshing to write. Yeah she really is cooler than Aeris, but she isn´t as motherly, so she didn´t really fit as a maid. Thank you for reviewing!

**Valitiel:** Hahaha, no Vincent won´t do that, he still has a soft spot for the puppy eyes XD Not so sure about Yazoo though... I suppose Yuffie with her pocket-picking skills rather goes into the 'dangerous'-category, hehehe. Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing!

**JiLLiBeanz:** Hehehe, I suppose if Yuffie stayed with them there´d be blood because really, she and Yaz don´t exactly love each other XD Thanks for the comment!


	13. Chapter 13

13

The wind was howling around the castle like it always did, and from the cliff the angry sound of the sea scourged against the rock as if trying to push its way further onto land. A salty breeze was hanging in the warm air of the room, mingling with the scent of burning, resinous wood.

The two vampires lay on the big, plushy bed, framed by soft cushions and their slender bodies only covered loosely. A fire was lazily burning in the chimney, crackling every so often and making the room very cozy and comforable with its dim orange light.

"'I beseech Thee, O Lord, that the fiery and sweet strength of Thy love may absorb my soul from all things that are under heaven, that I may die for love of Thy love as Thou didst deign to die for love of my love.'" (Prayer to obtain divine love, St. Francis of Assisi,)

Vincent´s calm, deep voice pleasantly echoed through the room, as he cited from the book he was holding, giving his nightly lecture to Yazoo.

"Now, how shall you say this in latin?" He asked, looking down at his lover. Instead of intensily listening and thinking up a translation Yazoo was pensively staring into the fire, his head resting in a tilted angle against the other vampire´s shoulder.

Squeezing the slender hand that was resting in his own, the raven haired vampire prodded for Yazoo´s attention, asking "Yazoo, are you even listening to what I am saying?"

The younger vampire blinked, coming out of his own thoughts, and briefly looked up. "Of course."

"So?" Vincent lifted an eyebrow, letting the book sink down on his lap "Then what did I just say?"

The was a brief pause in which only the crackling of the fire could be heard, until Yazoo answered "You said that you love me."

Vincent sighed, moving his thumb over the other´s palm, remarking "No, actually I did not say such a thing."

"Hn," was the dismissive reply, asYazoo looked back at the fire.

"Do you mind telling me what holds you so occupied that you cannot pay attention to St. Francis of Assisi?" the older vampire inquired, brow still raised.

"You aren´t reading fairy tales to me anymore."

"…I beg your pardon?"

"I said: you aren´t reading fairy tales to me anymore," the silver haired vampire repeated.

"Well, I understood that," Vincent replied, still looking a bit taken aback.

"Hn. Then why do you ask?" Green orbs were shifted upwards into the other´s blank face, a slight, teasing smirk playing around Yazoo´s pale lips.

"I think they are much more entertaining that some eremits lectures of how to pray to a god that doesn´t exist."

"Well, you cannot know that a superiour deity does not subsist," Vincent pointed out, sounding slightly reprimanding.

Upon seeing his student´s dark look, and not feeling like having that particular discussion again (for it was one of their regulars, and he himself felt too comfortable and lazy to think up new arguments), he just gave another quiet sigh, murmuring

"A fairy tale it is then." He shut the book and laid it beside him on the bed, feeling Yazoo shifting to get more comfortable, one arm slipping around his waist. After a moment of thinking the vampire leaned his head back into the cushions, his deep voice filling the cozy silence again.

"Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a prince. He was the only son of a mighty king who ruled over a big country and a good king he was. His people never suffered from hunger or illness and the king kept peace for the sake of those that had been enthrusted to him. The king also had a gentle wife and a child. Now, the king´s son was a beautiful young man that made the sun pale in his presence. He was graced with long hair the colour of moonlight and the face of an angel. His eyes shone like the purest emeralds and his skin was made of marble."

Yazoo smirked at that, being very pleased and snuggling a bit closer.

"But a spoiled little prince he was," Vincent continued, remaining unfazed by the cold glance he received. "Because of his beauty everyone loved him and the king as well as his servants were eager to fullfill the prince´s every wish. And so no one came to notice that the prince had become a difficult, demanding character. The king occassionally thought that the prince could show more interest in his studies and learn how to rule a country because he was destined to one day take over the throne of his father. But then he let it slide, thinking that later there was enough time for the prince to learn, and that he should enjoy his youth. And so the years passed by and the prince lived a happy, easy life with all his wishes being taken care of.

So when the time came for him to marry he simply refused to give up that life and take responsibility. The king was very griefed about that…"

He made a meaningful pause, receiving a lifted eyebrow from his lover. Yazoo shifted again and looked back at the fire, saying "Maybe Francis of Assisi does feel a little neglected…"

The corners of the other vampire´s lips twitched a little upwards at that, but he simply continued with his story, unfazed.

"Still, the king could not bring himself to marry his beloved son off against his will and so the rumors spread about the beautiful, stubborn young prince. One evening it so happened then, that the prince was going to bed early and he instructed his valet du chambre to not disturb his nightly rest anymore. He laid down to rest, but after a while, when he was nearly drifting off into sleep, a noise woke him again. Irritated the spoiled prince called for his page, but no one came and again he heard the screetching noise from outside. So the prince finally got up, his nightgown swaying around him and he left his chamber. The floor was empty and dark; only the white eyes of the ancient paintings followed the young prince as he walked down the corridor with a candle in hand. Eventually he came to a vacant balcony and there he found the source of the noise: something was scraping on the coloured windows from outside.. Despite his efforts he could not see who was fabricating the turmoil and so he opened the window and stepped into the night with harsh words on his lips. As soon as he had abandoned the safety of his home however, two strong arms held him from behind."

He made another pause, looking thoughtful for a moment. "You are right, maybe Francis of Assisi does feel neglected…"

"He´s been dead for half a century now he can wait another two hours," Yazoo stated dryly, not pleased by the interruption that had obviously been set up to tease him.

"I do not know…" Vincent frowned, but then gave in with an ironic smile has he became aware of the morose look he was graced with. Sighing, he shifted a little on the mattress, crossing his legs and continued,

"As I said, two strong arms curled around the prince from behind and aghast, the prince turned around, holding the light into the offenders face. And to his horror he stared right in the eyes of a wrinkled, ghoulish witch. Paralyzed with fear, the spoiled prince stood on the dark balcony, his flickering candle providing the only light, and then the witch opened her rotten mouth. Her breath smelled like 100 dead rats, and she said…"

Vincent made another pause for emphasizes, looking down at his student lying lazyily in his arms with a slightly stern gaze.

"'If you do not listen to your father and learn about Franics of Assisi I will cast a spell over you so you shall become a rat and then I will eat you!' And the spoiled prince obediently nodded and from then on he was a good boy and listened to everything his father said," the vampire finished with a satisfied, almost dreamy little smile, unaware of the eyebrow that was raised at him. "So, shall we read some more Franics of Ass-"

"What kind of a fairy tale was that?" Yazoo interrupted darkly.

"What is wrong with it?" Vincent frowned, longingly looking towards the book beside him.

"Vincent, the times where you could scare me with such tales and make me go back to learning are over since 10 years."

"Is that so?" the older vampire said, inclining his head in silent regret. Some things had been so much easier when Yazoo had still been impressable… "The fact that you get distracted from our studies has not changed since that time, however," he then dourly pointed out, but Yazoo professionally ignored it, looking back at the fire and marvelling,

"Neither has the fact that you get lost in the middle of your own stories and come up with some abrupt, unbelievable ending to try to cover it up."

"This is not true, and you might want to take note that I found my ending rather plausible. It had a beginning, a climax, an ending and a moral, and the conflict within was solved in a satisfying way," Vincent objected, sounding a bit hurt and offended.

"Do you think Homer would have written something like that?" Yazoo simply asked with a cynical look at his master, who blankly stared back down at him for a second before he crept deeper into his absent collar, leaving the question unanswered.

"So, how should it have ended then?"

The silver haired vampire inclined his head at that, the light of the flames flickering in his jade eyes, making them look even more unearthly.

"Hm, let me see…" he pondered, his low voice heavily floating through the dark, warm room. Vincent´s gaze briefly flickered towards the high window where the storm was raging and strong rain angrily splattered against the glass. His attention got drawn back to his student when Yazoo finally continued, a slight, smug smile on his lips.

"Two strong arms curled around the prince´s body and held him in an iron grip. Surprised, the prince let go of the candle and it fell on the stony ground with a small noise, the flame violently flickering in the wind. He could not see who was behind him, but it must have been a male. The prince could feel long teeth scribe at his delicate throat when the mysterious man drew him closer into the embrace and forced his head back. Terrified, the prince stood stock still, not able to call out for his knight nor being able to fight back against the upir who had come to suck his blood to the last drop and take delight in his red, warm, delicious elixier of life…"

Yazoo looked a bit distracted for a moment, eyes clouded by longing and his tongue unconciously licking over his full lips. A brief, gentle squeeze from his master made him come back to his senses however, and he continued in that calm, almost bored voice of his,

"Now, while the cool lips of the undead creature were ravishing his long neck it became apparent that the upir was hungry for certain other things as well, as his cold hands started to travel down the prince´s leg, pushing away the long nightgown and revealing more skin."

Vincent´s ruby eyes had shifted down to his unfazed pupil again, but he did not interrupt him. On the contrary, he was suddenly very aware of the slender waist he was holding, and the thin fabric that covered the velvety, sweet skin Vincent loved to lick, bite and explore until Yazoo was a shuddering mess underneath him…

"The prince gasped at the unfamiliar contact and the icy nightwind nipping at his sensitive skin, but the upir was merciless and held him in his hard grip, preventing him from struggling. The other hand that wasn´t stroking over the prince´s leg meanwhile teared at the nightdress from above, ripping it open until it eventually slid over small shoulders and left the poor prince stark naked…"

The vampire went off when he noticed the hand of his master on his hip starting to move and pull his shirt away. "Just continue…" Vincent murmured, shifting his entire form so that he practically straddled Yazoo´s lap, and started to nip at his throat.

Automatically Yazoo´s hand burried in Vincent´s raven hair and he moved his head back, lids slowly closing at the sharp tingling sensation that came with razor teeth scratching over his thin skin. It was a gentle movement though, not of the needy, desperate and violent kind they sometimes adopted. This was just to draw enough blood to make a thin trail running down his the nape of neck, over his collar bone and down over his chest; just enough that could be licked away by a clever, silky tongue.

"The prince felt quite embarrassed, standing there without anything to cover him from the servants eyes," the vampire continued, canines slowly sliding over his lips as he leaned back in the cushions and enjoyed Vincent´s hands pulling down his annoying shirt. His speech had become sultry and a bit distracted, but neither of them cared, on the contrary. The master was intent on making his student sound a lot more prurient than that.

"His cheeks burned with shame, as he felt so vulnerable a-and exposssssssssssed-"

Vincent looked up into his lover´s delighted face while his lips clenched around a hard nub his tongue was currently molesting with quick, sensual strokes. He could feel Yazoo arch underneath him and pressed him down into the mattress, rubbing his impressive erection against the young man´s lap.

"But the upir did not seem to care as he hng-" Yazoo clenched his teeth, surpressing a moan, when Vincent´s busy hands slipped past his waistband, roughly pulling his pants down.

Quickly Vincent freed his own erection to press it against the hard, pulsing length of student, groaning at the contact. While the younger vampire tried to cope with the sensation of the adamant cock rubbing at his skin, stimulating the sensitive, red head of his own erection by trapping it against his belly and the body above him Vincent suckled at his nipple and started to roll his hips in a lazy movement. He let go of the glistening, swollen nub and instead quickly wet three of his fingers he slipped under Yazoo´s bottom when the young vampire arched into him in synchro with his own movements.

"What happened then?" he murmured into the youth´s ear, pleased to see him with his eyes shut, lost in the sensation of their moving bodies grinding against each other sensually, though it became sharper and quicker by the minute.

"Th-then the prince didn´t have time to be embarrassed anymore since he felt something ha-hard… uuuh… p-pressing against h-him…" Licking his lips Yazoo moved his head back, drawing his long, naked legs around his master´s body to pull him closer, to have more contact, and to make that slick finger that was stroking over his feverish, awaiting hole go inside, to loosen the tension.

"He gasped out and moaned at the sudden contact of…of- aaaah Vincent yessss, go inside…"

"At the sudden contact of?" the vampire pressed harshly, pushing his finger deeper around the warmth clenching around him.

"T-the contact of fingers gripping his hard cock and stroking it- uhgn, more, more!" Yazoo breathed, feverishly pushed harder against the second finger that parted his flesh and brushed just against that spot that made his insides tingle and burn, yearning for more.

"What a bold creature that one is, hm?" Vincent heavily stated into his students ear, licking over the shell, and rubbing his dick against Yazoo´s again.

"Ah yesss, bold," the silver haired young man affirmed with dizzy eyes, not really listening anyway. "But the prince didn´t mind because it felt so good and then he said- hng- he said…"

"What did he say?" the older questioned, accompanied by a third finger that started to push in and out of the other vampire.

"Fuck me," was the instant, panted reply and the grip around Vincent´s neck tightened. "The prince wanted nothing more than that big, fat cock fucking him into oblivion and he didn´t even care about anyone seeing him anymore, just- oh please, fuck me already!"

Pressing his forehead against Yazoo´s shoulder Vincent lifted his hips and withdrew his fingers to replace them with his rockhard cock and obediently claimed that delicious body that was his to frantically penetrate it.

"Like this?" he grunted, gripping Yazoo´s legs and opening him wider, his dick vanishing ball deep inside the other vampire´s ass.

"Ye-yes, exactly like that," his student hitched, scratching with his nails over Vincent´s back as he was ruthlessly fucked into the soft mattress.

The crackling of the fire was drowned by the noise of their bodies slapping hard against each other and then by the muffled shouts as they simultaneously reached their sexual release. Vincent spurted inside Yazoo with a relieved groan and a bone crushing grip at his parted, slender legs before he stilled with a last few spastic jerks.

Yazoo still held him in a tight embrace, that slowly relaxed when he came down from his own tremendous orgasm. Slowly Vincent pulled out, letting go of the legs he still held and instead cupping his lover´s face for a tender, sluggish kiss.

"That was quite a naughty little prince," he said lowly, looking deep into the hazy, emerald eyes that held his red gaze with equal gentleness. A smirk crept over pouty lips as Yazoo observed with his head turning aside, "Hn. He didn´t even get started. A certain someone wouldn´t let him…"

Vincent slowly rose a brow at that but then rolled down from his student and cradled him in his arms, the colours of his eyes a light, soft orange.

"Really… I am wondering if Homer would have written something like this," he teased, slowly stroking over his lovers head.

Yazoo looked like he would purr at him at any moment, but then simply moved his head closer, shrugging. "He may not. But it was much more interesting than your version, wasn´t it?"

"Hm," the raven haired vampire affirmed with a small, ironic smile and with his free hand reached for a cloth to clean off the cum from his companion´s flat belly. "Now, about Francis of Assisi…"

"I am certain he wouldn´t have known about animal desires," Yazoo stated dryly and demonstratively closed his big eyes to enjoy the pleasant exhaustion he felt and the silence of their togetherness.

Sighing, Vincent threw a last look at the book next to him and then turned to his lover, drawing his arm around him and giving Francis a well deserved pause for at least one night.

TBC

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**Valitiel:** Gahahahahhahahaahhahahhaaha, Yuffie as Sephiroth´s super weapon cracked me up so hard!!! *still giggling madly* You know, since I had rather fun with Yuffie I suppose we could see her again indeed, but I´m not sure if Sephy can handle her without killing her so she might return in another context XDDD Thanks for reviewing and making me laugh so hard!

**patsch:** Yay, I´m glad you liked it, it was much fun to write to tell the truth XD I think especially since Vincent is always so serious and everything and Yuffie manages to get the better of him. And because she pisses off Yazoo XD Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**JiLLiBeanz the Hug Slut:** Ah yes, she left fast, but since I enjoyed writing her she might just come back later ;) Yeah, Vincent is surprisingly dense when it comes to certain things, but I think that´s rather funny XD Thank you for the comment!!

**Review please?**


	14. Chapter 14

**So, so sorry for the long wait! My only excuse is that I was in Japan -holidays- and then I had a nasty wisdom teeth surgery - die tooth, die!!!- but now I´m back and can hopefully update more regularly!**

**At least I hope there are still readers out there? *shyly waves***

**Enjoy!  
**

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14

Another heavy storm roared over the fields, scourging the air with rain and hollering around the castle. A blazing light disrupted the clouds, followed by deep grumbling thunder and briefly a cloaked, black figure could be seen, standing in front of the high castle.

If it hadn´t been for his superior ears, Yazoo wouldn´t have heard the rapping at the gate, but so his elegant brows furrowed and he laid aside his book, listening again if he had misheared. No one had ever come to this abandoned area, the earth was too stony and sandy for anything to grow here and the villagers avoided these parts because of the wild animals.

But there it was again, a strong knocking against thick wood.

The vampire contemplated what to do.

Vincent was still out. Besides, he wouldn´t need to ask for entrance. Maybe it was some wanderer who had lost his way and was asking for shelter… A thin smile crept over the man´s lips. Now, this would be a fortunate coincidence, since he also happened to be a bit thirsty… And if he hurried, Vincent would never know. What the eye did not see, the heart did not grieve over, wasn´t it?

Grabbing for a candlebearer, the vampire made his way out into the front curt, and shielding the flickering candles from the rain and wind, opened the viewing panel.

"Who is there?"

"Just a lost wanderer, seeking for shelter from the rain."

"Hn," Yazoo eyed the female through narrowed eyes. Albeit she was pumped with blood, he wasn´t fooled about her obvious dead condition.

"What do you want, blooddrinker."

The woman remained silent for a moment, before her pleasant, soft voice reached his ears again.

"I do wish to speak to Vincent Valentine, please."

Yazoo snorted inwardly. So much for his lover´s promise that no other vampire would show up before their door ever again.

"He is not here."

"Oh. Would you mind letting me inside and wait for him then?"

Yazoo contemplated that for a moment. If she would have meant any harm she would have attacked him from the shadows and not knocked at his door first. As Vincent had told him, bloodsuckers did not need an invitation to infiltrate other bloodsuckers houses, as Sephiroth had taken advantage off. And he was a little curious too, maybe she could tell him about Vincent, about his past and things he still refused to tell.

With a creak, the vampire opened the door, letting the hunched figure in and locking the gate behind her again, then motioning for her to follow him. He lead her to the salon, setting the candlebearer aside and gesturing towards a seat.  
His guest finally got rid of her cloak, revealing to be a tall and breath takingly beautiful woman with brown long hair and dark eyes, framed by long lashes.

"Thank you very much, you are too kind," she said gently, lying her black coat over the offered armest and taking a seat by the fire to dry her long, white dress. She wore a pearl necklace around her delicate neck and her hair was drawn into a high ponytail, wrapped up with a pale green yellow ribbon, while her bangs hung into her angelic face freely.

"I assume it suffices to offer you something to drink," Yazoo said dryly, sitting down in his own chair opposite her.

"Yes, thank you though."

Well, at least she had some manners, unlike their other 'guest' who had ruthlessly invaded their private quarters.

"So, what brings you here?" the silver haired teen asked interestedly, seizing her up thoroughly. Since he hadn´t met any blood drinkers aside from Vincent and Sephiroth, he had absolutely no idea how old she was as a vampire. He guessed her mortal age to be somewhere around 25.

"I just wanted to visit an old friend," she said politely, observing him herself.

"I see. Then what do you want from him?"

"Nothing, I really just want to see him again and maybe talk a little about old times."

"Really. What kind of 'old times'?"

"You really are a curious one, aren´t you?" the woman laughed, smiling at him with mirth.

"Hn," he smiled his best fake charming smile, inwardly seizing her up with cold eyes again.

"Well, we met a long time ago, but then somehow lost sight of each other."

"Approximately how long ago?" He inclined his head looking geniunly interested .

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "About three hundred years ago, I believe."

His eyes widened a fraction and she smiled at that. "Do not worry, I mean no harm to you or Vincent."

"Assumedly not," he just agreed with a lifted eyebrow.

"Did he never talk about me?" she asked now herself, arranging her coat anew so that the other side could also dry.

"No. He never talks about the past," Yazoo answered impassively, not failing to notice the hurt expression that flickered over her gorgeous face for a moment.

"I see," the mysterious woman said then, looking up at him with a smile again and inquiring curiously. "And how did you come to live with Vincent?"

"Well, he is my mentor. He made me."

The shell-shocked expression on her face would have greatly amused Yazoo, if there hadn´t also been a somewhat weird and indecipherable gleam coming to her face that made him oddly uneasy.

"I… see," she finally breathed, trying to sound nonchalant, but it didn´t quite work. Before they could get any further in their inquiries, the door opened and footsteps approached.

"Is there still some hot water left? I feel greatly inclined to have a -"

The footsteps came to an abrupt halt, as did Vincent´s speech. Frowning, Yazoo turned his head, only to see his lover waver a little, and his blank expression going from disbelieving to utterly shocked. "L-lucrecia?"

*

Worriedly, Yazoo had risen to his feet, offering his mentor his chair, who dazedly took the seat, without even noticing Yazoo leading him there. He just stared at the woman opposite him with wide eyes and as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Hello Vincent. It has been a while, hasn´t it?" She smiled at him, shyly.

He just nodded automatically, until a sharp elbow prodded into his rips and he hurriedly said "Yes".  
They remained in an awkward silence in which Vincent stared at their guest, Lucrecia played with the rim of her dress and Yazoo eyed the two with cold suspicion.

"Well," Lucrecia spoke up again after it became apparent that Vincent was in no condition to speak a coherent sentence himself "your apprentice was so kind as to let me in."

Vincent´s gaze shifted towards Yazoo as if he was seeing him for the first time and then his eyes widened a bit as he realised something."Well. He is a good student."

"I assumed that. Otherwise you certainly would not have chosen him. He is beautiful too," the woman answered, sounding as if she was implying something.

"Is he?" Vincent asked, as if the idea had never crossed his mind before.

Yazoo found that to be a very displeasing turn of events and felt that he had to make things clear here too, smiling sweetly at the woman and saying "Excuse him please, he seems to still be a little confused from the hunt."  
His hand was sliding around the man´s neck as he added with a smirk to make her know which side the bread was buttered on. "Actually Vincent appreciates my beauty very much and on a rather regular basis too…"

Very suddenly, the silver haired vampire found his hand slapped away as Vincent stood from his seat, clearly able to speak for himself again. "I am sorry, he has that kind of peculiar humor."

The cloaked vampire threw an apologetic look to his old friend, and then grabbed his lovers upper arm to firmly lead him out of the room, making all alarm bells in the young man´s head shrill full force.

"What-"

"I think it is high time for you to return to your coffin, now," Vincent informed him curtly as he dragged him out of the room.

"But-"

"Now." With that he placed him outside the salon, whispering to him in a warning manner "And do not even think about eavesdropping."

He shut the door into Yazoo´s face, leaving him feel utterly betrayed and confused.

*

After he had effectively thrown out his student, Vincent went back to the fireplace and sat down again. The lower half of his body behind his collar and his long dark hair falling into his face and casting it in shadows made it difficult to see his expression, and when he wasn´t speaking again, Lucrecia leaned forward in her chair, asking worriedly "I am sorry, should I not have come?"

The vampire shook his head, briefly closing his eyes and rubbing his temple. "No, I… This is just very unexpected."

She looked to the ground. "Yes, I understand."

Forcing himself to put his restless hands into his lap where he interwined his shaking fingers, Vincent asked suavely "So, what made you come here?"

Lucrecia smiled at him and leaned back in her seat, crossing her long legs "Sephiroth told me that you two had met recently and that you were doing very well. He said that you had even taken in a student. He didn´t mention however, that you made him…" And here they were again.

Withdrawing deeper into the shadow of his collar, Vincent made a facile noise, then saying in his calm, sonourous voice "It was an accident. I did not intend for that to happen."

She lifted an eyebrow at that, but replied softly "I did not blame you at all. And as I can see he does you good. You look great."

"Thank you," the other murmured, feeling like everything was very surreal.

"Please, do not look at me like that," she sighed, leaning her elbow on the armrest and propping her forehead on two fingers. "I did not expect you to wait for me forever. It is only natural that you would forget about me some day…" That she said, but the hurt in her eyes, she could barely conceal, spoke of very different feelings to her words.

"I never forgot you and I never will!" Vincent instantly said, looking at her intensily and almost angry as his hands clutched around the armrest.

She looked up at him, smiling a sad smile "I even believe you, you were always such an earnest person… But I see now that there is no place for me here, apart from your memories. Your heart has been taken away from me."

"Yazoo has nothing to do with this," the cloaked vampire said dismissively. "His existence will neither influence nor change my attitude towards you and you know that."

"Do I?" Lucrecia asked, still smiling her sad smile and standing from her chair to stay in front of the fireplace. "Actually there has been no night I haven´t thought about you, about us, and when I heard that you were doing so well, I wanted to see, wanted to share your happiness again… I´m sorry, I really shouldn´t have come…"

She turned around, biting her lip and attempting to grab her coat and run out of the room, but two strong hands held her by the shoulders, and a moment later she was drawn in a thight embrace. As the female vampire laid her head against his broad chest, smelling his unique scent and feeling his arms around her torso, he said quietly. "Please stay here for the night. I suggest we continue this discussion tomorrow night. Obviously we both need time to think and adjust to the situation."

There was a moment of silence that made Vincent fear that she would refuse his offer but eventually she nodded, freeing herself from the hug and uncertainly gracing him with a little smile. The warm light from the fireplace flickered over her gentle features and she was just like he remembered her from so many years ago…

"I will show you your coffin now." He abruptly turned around and grabbed for the candle bearer, more because he wanted to have something to cling to while he led her through the corridors than because they needed the light. Together they made their way through the dark hallways, the storm filling in for the silence between them. Eventually they came to the castles personal crypt in an outhouse. It provided their home with enough unoccupied stone coffins, though both Yazoo and Vincent had settled with wooden coffins. For one night it would do, though.

Gesturing towards one of the burial cases, Vincent sat aside the candlebearer and opened the heavy lid. "I am sorry, it is a bit dusty… If you feel inclined to, I can offer you my coffin instead."

She shook her head, lying her now dry coat into it as a substitute for a blanket. "Do not worry, I am perfectly fine here. Besides, I believe that you and your student have to talk quite a bit."

His face did not show any signs if he shared her opinion or not. As she had laid down, he went to the stairs again, bowing in her direction and quietly took his leave.

*

When Vincent entered their own bedroom, which they had transferred to a less drafty and uncomfortable place, he found Yazoo sitting on his closed coffin, looking at the wall opposite the entrance and being in one of his lost moods.

It wasn´t that Vincent had to complain about it, to tell the truth he did not feel much like explaining anything. He had to get his own confusion back under control, before he could even think about facing Yazoo´s unquestionably frosty accusations.

"She´s 'that woman', isn´t she." It wasn´t so much of a question but a dry, plain statement.

Vincent removed the lid from his coffin, only replying "Yes." There was no use in hiding it, and frankly he did not see why he should do it at all. Yazoo might not understand or share his excitement, but that didn´t change anything about the fact that it was there. Actually the cloaked vampire had expected a snappy reply or something sarcastic in return, but there was only a clinical statement.

"I thought you said she was dead."

"Well," the vampire lifted an eyebrow, preparing to slip in his burial case "actually she is. Just not in the sense that you may have suspected."

No further words were spoken, until Vincent remembered something he had to say before Yazoo was drifting off. "On another note: I would appreciate it if you could refrain from making such impudent comments in the future. Our private matters shall remain between us and I will not tolerate another verbal lapse."

There was no answer.

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard you."

"Well then answer."

"Good night."

"…Good night."

TBC

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**I hope it was worth the wait :)**

**Valitiel:** Haha, yes, sadly no Yuffie-Sephiroth-superweapon XD Well, Vincent is a few hundred years old, he gets a bit behind the times sometimes, no wonder he tells old-fashioned stories XD And so he totally didn´t see Yazoo´s version of the story coming, but I guess in the end he didn´t really mind at all ;) Oh, and he got the book from Reeve btw! He bought it a few years later ^__^

**VincentV:** Oh yes, you´re right, Yazoo needs to learn a lot before he can ever become as erudite and wise as Vincent! Vincent had years and years of study and Yazoo is a boy of only 20, so there is no way they are comparable in their knowledge. But I think they share a certain basic intelligence, they way on how to handle things, how to learn and their curiosity and patience to really learn these things *Küsschen*


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to jasakurachan1 for the awesome betaing!**

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15

A few hours later Yazoo sat hunched over his books, trying to distract himself, when the door to the salon opened and the other two vampires entered with flushed faces. He didn´t know if it was from the blood or other reasons, but he really didn´t want to know either.

Pretending to be utterly consumed by his studies he didn´t even look up when they entered.

"We are having our evening literature discussion," Vincent informed his acquaintance quietly.

This was answered by a far too interested, "Oh, that sounds splendid." And naturally she then had to ask "Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Not at all," Vincent said and they sat down on the table beside him.

"What are you reading?" Lucrecia asked, trying to look at the book that was laid out before Yazoo.

"Francois de la Cur," the young vampire replied curtly, turning another page without looking at her.

"Oh. That´s… interesting." Her voice held an awkward tone as she sat back, not so eager anymore and apparently Vincent noticed too, as he inclined his head and asked, "You do not like his writing?"

"Well," Lucrecia stretched, picking at a lint on her dress with graceful fingers. "I don´t hold a personal grudge, but you know… he was a sodomist…"

At that Yazoo looked up to her, arching a brow, "What´s wrong with that?"

The woman gave a laugh that sounded a bit disbelieving, and then her gaze darted to Vincent before she waved a hand and said softly, "Well, you know, it´s just… unnatural."

There was a moment of silence, in which the ebony haired man crept deeper into his collar, but Yazoo pushed the book aside and entwined his fingers on the table, transfixing his gaze on her. "Really. And why is that?"

"I believe men weren´t made to like other men that way. Nature made them to like women, it´s the only natural way, to have children and…" She paused. "I mean, there might be situations when there is no woman available for a long time, and I do understand that men need relief and that they would turn to other men to get it, but that´s not how it normally is. Men love women, that´s how it is."

"I detest women."

Lucrecia gave a forced, little smile at the emotionless, matter-of-fact spoken statement, but didn´t break the eye contact with her former lover´s student either. She stared right back into his fathomless, unflinching eyes and said with a lenient tone, "Have you ever actually been with a woman?"

"No. Maybe I would, if the mere thought of it wouldn´t send me retching out my guts," Yazoo answered politely, but his eyes remained ice cold.

The woman seemed to fidget under his stare and eventually looked back to the hands folded in her lap, arguing quietly, "As I said, I think it is unnatural."

Yazoo´d probably been shocked about her frankness, but he was too surprised. So he closed his mouth and said slowly, "You have been feeding off of humans for at least 300 years every night, you have to sleep in a coffin, you read peoples' minds and alter their memories, you can´t even touch anything that vaguely resembles two crossed sticks and you want to tell me that I am a freak of nature because I prefer the company of _men_?"

His eyes travelled over to Vincent for support since he thought that this matter concerned his lover as well, but so did her gaze, and the poor man could do nothing but keep quiet, sitting on the fence.

Sighing, Lucrecia crossed her legs and leaned a bit forward, saying gently, "It might just be your lack of experience. I am not saying that your feelings for… males aren´t genuine, but you may mistake deep friendship for love."

At least now Yazoo´d have expected his master to say something to his defense, since she was directly offending him as well. After all it had been his master who had more or less seduced him on that fateful night, and had turned him into a 'sodomist'. But Vincent remained silent as if the whole matter didn´t have to do anything with him at all. So after a moment of fruitless waiting Yazoo simply closed his book, stood from his chair and said with a bow, "If you will excuse me then. I do not want to offend your sense of appropriateness by reading the work of sick perverts in your presence."

And with that he left.

Lucrecia stared after him and then turned towards the other vampire, frowning, "Oh dear, I didn´t offend him, did I?"

"I do not know…" Vincent said slowly, looking a bit uncomfortable. "He is rather…attached to me, he might have misunderstood your arguments…"

"I understand," she sighed, reaching over the table and taking his hand. "Who wouldn´t be? You are a wonderful person. But I suppose he might have misinterpreted things between you… Maybe he needs some time to figure things out. I mean he only has been with you for so long, he doesn´t know any better, and his affection might have taken on some unhealthy forms…"

Vincent looked to the closed door at that and then back to his friend, asking uncertainly, "You think so?"

"Well, it seems rather… likely," she answered softly, squeezing his hand.

He let his head hang, shaking it in resignation, "You may be right. I have spoiled him a little too much. I never thought about the consequences…"

"Don´t blame yourself, you did the best you could, I am sure of it. But now might be the right time to correct these mistakes."

*

And thus the tension continued for a few more days. The animosity between Yazoo and Lucrecia was almost tangible, but Vincent pretended to be oblivious. It wasn´t really difficult to do so, because Lucrecia was perfectly friendly and polite and Yazoo was, if anything, only more taciturn than usual. Yazoo tried to avoid the both of them and he gave Vincent the cold shoulder on the rare occasions that they were alone, to let him know that he was not amused about the whole situation. Luckily for Vincent, Yazoo just wasn´t one to make a scene. Which didn´t mean that he didn´t yearn for the night that the wretched woman would take her leave.

But five nights after their conversation the two older vampires did not come back until near dawn and to Yazoo´s utter horror they brought a new wooden coffin with them and placed it right beside his own.

It was then that he felt like he had to have a word with Vincent, politely excusing himself to the lady and dragging his lover into the salon.

"Excuse me, what is going on here?"

"Lucrecia will stay with us now."

"Shall I retreat to the crypt, that you can have some privacy or something?"

"Yazoo, stop behaving like some jealous old woman, I already told you that it does not suit you."

"Well then, can you tell me with absolute certainty that there is no reason to be jealous?"

It was a calm question, one that could not be dismissed with an annoyed flick of the hand.

Vincent shifted his weight to the other foot, averted his eyes, then sighed and turned toward the window, looking out at the moon.

"Maybe it is better if our ways part here. You need something that I realize now I cannot give you: undivided attention and love. Please do not misunderstand me, you mean very much to me, you really do, but if you stay here with me you will only get hurt. And I do not wish for that."

"And you think you will not hurt me if you throw me out?" Yazoo had turned towards the fire, their backs facing each other.

"No, I do not think that. But such pain will only be temporary. If you stay with me, it will be much greater, believe me."

"Did she tell you that?"

The other remained silent, just looking outside without really seeing anything.

"Listen," Yazoo said eventually, sounding tired, "I am certain that you feel for her very deeply and that you are happy that she is here. And you may not want to think about certain things, but I do.

"I do not know what happened between you or why she left you to go with Sephiroth, but I doubt that he 'took her away' from you as you phrased it. She seems very capable of making her own decisions to me and it strikes me awkward that she suddenly appeared after she heard that you are having a life again."

"You eavesdropped?" the other vampire asked suspiciously, turning around, but Yazoo just continued, unfazed by the interruption.

"I did, but this is not the point here. The point is that you have to think about it this way: Say there is a person you care for and you know this person cares for you too, but at the same time you decided not to be with that particular person. What would you do to ensure that your love interest will never forget about you, in case you may decide one day to come back?"

Vincent did not answer, just kept on watching the back of his student.

"Well, here is what _I_ would do: I would leave that person in utter despair, making sure that he never stops grieving over my loss and clings to the past instead of living on. Now, what would you do if you found out that your plan didn´t work and your lover found someone else?

"I will tell you what _I_ would do: Go back, make them break up, take my former place and as soon as everything is settled I would take my leave, having made sure that my fill-in has been established again. Maybe she doesn't even think that way, or does it consciously. Maybe she really missed you and only realized it now.

"But the fact that Sephiroth told her about us should make you wary. Do you really believe that he would have sent her here if he wouldn´t expect you to end up miserable again? His only goal is to destroy you. It may not be this week or this year but he knows that she will come back to him eventually for the same reason she left you of her own will once before and you will be the one who loses everything. Your dignity, your trust, her. And me."

"This is ridiculous, I will not listen to this any longer! You know nothing about us and I will not allow you to calumniate her!" the cloaked vampire snapped harshly, eyes blazing angrily as he turned and stormed out of the room before he could forget himself and do things to Yazoo he might regret later.

Falling back in a chair, the silver haired teen watched the flames idly flickering in the fireplace.

Now this had gone exactly like he had predicted for the worst case scenario.

All he had achieved was driving Vincent right into her arms. But he had to try it anyway, hadn´t he? Since the damn woman had appeared on their door, Vincent had transformed into a wholly different person, desperately doing her every bidding, and there was nothing he could do about it. And since he also wasn´t able to watch the downfall of his master and obviously wasn´t welcome here any longer. He would take his leave tomorrow.

Tbc

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**Valitiel:** Haha, yes, Lucrecia as Vincent long lost lover surely wasn´t a very original choice XD But well, it was too tempting... Yazoo certianly isn´t happy to have her in the house, I bet he really regrets to have let her in. Since she´s so viciously trying to drive a wedge between Vincent and Yazoo :( Thank you for reviewing and still reading!!!


	16. Chapter 16

**Okies, last chapter for this instalment! Thanks again to everyone who kept reading and especially reviewing!!! And to jsakurachan1 for her wonderful help and spell checking!!!**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 16

The next night he woke, Yazoo found both coffins next to his own empty, which he appreciated quite a lot for he did not feel like seeing them all lovey-dovey.

Going up into his room he gathered a few of his clothings and threw them in a white linen bag. He briefly contemplated about taking a bath before he left but then dismissed it. They could come back from hunting any moment and he wanted to be far away by then.

Still he went into the salon, with its ever present fire, to take the books he had copied. They were his after all and he certainly needed something to do in the upcoming, lonely nights.

Just as he was about to take them from the table and stuff them into his bag a low voice from the shadows ordered him "Sit."

Surprised, the young vampire looked up, narrowing his eyes and staring in the darkness. "Vincent?"

He furrowed his brows a bit, then his face became cold and he informed the other curtly, while wrapping the leather ribbon about his pack.

"My apologies, I will be gone immediately."

"Sit," the other vampire instructed again, adding after a pause "Please."

Standing next to the table, Yazoo wondered what this was all about now, but eventually grabbed a chair and sat down, observing Vincent standing in his corner with folded arms. The man finally came towards the fire and calmly sat down in the chair opposite his student.

Neither of them said anything, until the younger one lifted an eyebrow and asked "And?"

Vincent looked at his gloved hand resting on the armrest, then his gaze shifted towards his student again as he finally said "I want to apologize for my inexusable behavior the other night and the one before that."

Yazoo´s jaw dropped and it took him a few seconds to shut his mouth with a clicking sound again.

"I have been thinking about what you told me." The vampire continued, going back to look at nothing in particular. "And I have come to the conclusion that I do not want you to leave."

"…I see," the other young man said, not knowing what else to answer.

"I have to admit, that I do not want for Lucrecia to leave either. As you probably know she means very much to me. But it seems that my enthusiasm about seeing her again clouded my judgement and I am grateful to you for being brave enough to confront me with the unpleasant, even though you had to fear that I would turn away from you. I did not appreciate it at that time, or rather was not able to, but now I see that it is the greatest sacrifice one being can make for the ones he holds dear."

"Really ?" Yazoo answered, looking sceptical. Initially he had just wanted to get Vincent away from the scheming bitch so that he could have him all to himself again. It had been some kind of desperate deed, but if Vincent said so… He most certainly wouldn´t object!

"Yes. And if you decide to forgive me I will assure you that something like this will never happen again. Ever."

Yazoo tilted his head a little. Now he wasn´t a cruel being (just practical) and he could feel that Vincent was suffering and waiting for an answer, but his master also had caused him a lot of grief the past nights and there were certain things that just wouldn´t be done with an apology.

"Do you remember the last time you promised me something? Not even half a year later you already broke it. I am sorry but I have some difficulties to simply trust your judgement any longer, if I do not know what it is based on."

"I understand," Vincent said quietly. "I did not expect you to agree that easily. I have a proposal to make, if you would be willing to listen."

Yazoo gave a short nod and the other vampire continued "I will tell you about me. There shall be no secrets to remain between us. If you wish for it I shall allow you to read my mind so you can acertain that what I tell you is the truth. After that you can decide if you will accept my exculpation or if you rather not spend your time with me any longer."

The silver haired teenager thought about that for a moment, then nodded again, but asking still a little suspiciously "What about the woman?"

"I will ask Lucretia to take her leave as soon as she comes back from hunting."

"Great. If you don´t mind I would like to partake in this."

"Very well." The vampire nodded after a brief pause and in silence they waited for Lucrecia Crescent to enter the salon.

*

She could feel that something was wrong when she entered with a smile and instead of only Vincent found the two of them sitting in their chairs, her former lover a bit stiffly, while his apprentice gave a rather relaxed and casual impression.

Her smile faltered only slightly before she caught herself again and approached them, leaning one hand on the back of a chair that had been prepared in front of them. Vincent rose to his feet and politely gesturing towards the chair saying "Sit please.."

Tilting her head a little, she laughed a rather forced laugh, asking mockingly "Is this some kind of conspiracy or something?"

They exchanged a brief glance Lucrecia did not like in the least, and Vincent sat down again.  
"Please."

"Well, if you ask me so kindly," she retorted, trying to remain friendly and casual in the thick, and serious atmosphere. After she had settled down, hands placed neatly into her lap,  
Vincent cleared his throat, intoning "Well, about what we talked about earlier…"

He paused, looking uncomfortable and as if he did not quite knew how to say it.

"You mean about that we agreed that it would be better for Yazoo to live on his own now?" she helped him, smiling, and as if this was the most natural thing to consider, briefly glancing at the youth in question. Yazoo gave no expression whatsoever, only sitting in his chair and observing the two of them.

Somehow he unnerved her. To say that she did not like him was a bit of an overstatement, in fact she did only consider him to be a nuiscance she had to get rid of. But still… His cold gaze and enicmatic attitude sat not well with her and she had no idea what Vincent found in him, apart from that he was maybe beautiful… But then again she was too.

"Yes, about that," Vincent said, drawing her attention back to him. "I reconsidered our decision and after a long and thorough night of pondering the problem I came to the conclusion that he will not leave if he does not wish for it."

Lucrecia looked a little surprised, but then another smile graced her lips and she said in an understanding fashion "Oh, I understand. Well, he is still young and used to the place, so I think it will be no problem for us at all to find ourself another estate."

"No, I am afraid you do not quite understand me," the cloaked vampire shook his head, then threw another glance at Yazoo and looked back at her, finally revealing softly "It is you who will leave here."

She had to process that for quite some time, until her blank face turned into a disbelieving expression and she laughed with a shrill sound "Ah, Vincent, now that is not a funny joke…"

"I am serious," Vincent informed her gently.

"What? But… I mean why? He is old enough to take care of himself, he doesn´t need you to be his watchdog."

"It is not my concern for his well being that led me to this decision. Although it may be one of the minor reasons."

Throwing the silver haired vampire a cold look, she folded her arms over her chest, demanding "So? What is it then?"

"Affection," Vincent said simply, making her laugh nastily and shaking her head.

"I can´t believe this. You are throwing away everything we had just for a passing whim?"

"I would not call this a passing whim," came the careful explanation "And I would like to question the term 'everything we had'. You left me two hundred years ago without contemplating our past much more than I do now."

Lucrecia suddenly looked pleading and seeking for understanding as she explained "I had to do this, do not think it was easy for me!"

"I understand. But just like you had to follow what your heart dictated you then, I have to do so now. It is by no means easy for me. But I made my decision as well and I kindly ask you to accept it."

The woman snorted, shaking her head and then saying acridly "So you are saying that you prefer that snot-nosed brat over me?"

"If you want to sum it up like that, please feel free to do so," the vampire replied, sounding remarkably colder now. "However, I would prefer it if you would refrain from calling him such names."

Looking at him in disbelief, a gleam of malice crept into her beautiful eyes, as she said, with the clear intend to hurt him "Sephiroth was right, you are a fool to let yourself be manipulated by a mere child."

"At least I am not letting myself be used for questionable and cheap values by a lunatic," he shot back, but closed his mouth instantly, shocked by his own words. Lucrecia wasn´t less bewildered. He had never raised his voice with her before, nor said such words!

He shook his head, leaning it back against the chair and tiredly saying "I am sorry. Please, could you leave now?"

The woman bit her lip, thinking and finally saying in a slow and heavy voice "If you throw me out now, I will be gone forever."

"Shall I escort you to the door?" the other vampire suddenly stepped in, sounding very polite, but she wasn´t fooled. He was gloating, and he didn´t even try to hide it very well.

Lucrecia looked at Vincent again for an answer, deciding to just ignore the runt, but there was no reply whatsoever.

"Shall we then?" Yazoo had stopped beside her chair, looking down at her with a friendly smile, holding out his arm for her an a very sophisticated manner, but she shrank away from him, hissing "Don't you dare touch me.."

"I would not dream of it," Yazoo replied sweetly "It could be contagious."

She shook her head again, raising from her seat and saying bitterly "You know what, you truly deserve each other."

"Why thank you." The silver haired vampire cocked his head to the side in that manner of his and gestured towards the door.

Holding her head high she did not even do so much as spare them one last glance, grabbed her coat and made her exit.

As she marched out of the door, Yazoo waved behind her and watched as her coat was blown by the wind and only seconds later she had vanished into nothing.

A figure appeared behind him, staring at the spot where she had been just a moment ago.

"Let´s hear about your story now," the younger one said, turning around and taking the others hand, drawing him inside again. With a last glance in the snowy white winter landscape, Vincent locked the door behind him and followed his friend into the dark castle.

~end part 2

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Vypper: Thank you! Well, Vincent came back to his senses last minute and decided that he rather wanted to spend his time with Yazoo, but now Yazoo has to decide if he even wants to accept Vincent´s apology... We´ll see about that in the third part ^^

Valitiel: Hahahaa, yesh, they soooo should have a cat fight, all right! And Vincent sits in his chair and drools XD I´m not sure if Lucrecia really is a homophob but she wants to drive a wedge between Yazoo adn Vincent and she uses any measure available... Haha, yeah, Vincent has to take His Brattyness like a man all right *drools herself at that thought* Thank you for the awesome review!

Lenko: Oh hello there! I´m glad you like that story too! Uhm yeah, Vincent is dumb sometimes. Like, really really dumb (or at least I make him XD). I suppose later when we hear about his story it might became a bit more plausible why he is so attached to Lucrecia, but really, in this case he just didn´t want to hear the ugly truth. Luckily he re-thought it last minute, but now I wonder if Yazoo will take him back... Thanks for the review, and I hope you´ll enjoy the third part as well!

Reno-is-a-Turk: Yay for stabbing Lu!!!!! I dun particularly like her in this fic -.- Thanks for reviewing!!!

**Hopefully see you in part 3, thanks again to everyone who read, reviewed, faved and subscribed!!!!!!!!!!**

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